


Hyperdimension Neptunia: Solia's Journey

by MechaKingGhidorah100



Category: Hyperdimension Neptunia
Genre: Adventure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2020-12-20 20:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21062957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MechaKingGhidorah100/pseuds/MechaKingGhidorah100
Summary: (Conquest x Normal Ending Xover) My name is Solia, CPU Candidate of Planeptune and Nepgear's little sister! After a run in with a suspected ASIC Agent that turned out a bit less than ideal, I have found myself in a new dimension, one where my big sis is still a CPU Candidate! I need to get home (big sis is probably super worried) while also uncovering just how my big sister went from being this bubbly, nonchalant girl that lives here to becoming my cool and somber big sister who is the True Goddess of Gamindustri!





	1. Prologue and Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> AN: So this is my first fanfic that isn't just some oneshot posted in an ideas thread so feedback would be MASSIVELY appreciated. I have always loved Hyperdimension Neptunia with Nepgear having been my favorite character. I know the Conquest route has gotten a decent glut of fanfiction, given it was so open to interpretation, but most if not all of these have Nepgear going full evil or Gehaburn pulling a Frostmourne rather than simply being a tragic character, and while everyone's interpretation is valid, doesn't scratch that itch for me. 
> 
> Now there always was going to be a little sister for Nepgear, and originally the fic was to have followed Solia and Nepgear, but I couldn't really parse out a coherent plot beyond them getting to know each-other and some various disconnected scenes which could serve just as easily as flashbacks. Now on the subject of Solia herself, her design is based off Ile Heart , whilst her name references both a celestial body (the Sun) like other Planeptune CPUs and the fact that Planeptune is the sole nation and that in her world, she is the sole CPU candidate.
> 
> I decided to Xpost this onto AO3 from Fanfiction and Spacebattles/Sufficent Velocity since there seems to be a decently sizable Nep fandom here, so if you prefer those sites you will be able to find it there (also saying this in case anyone accuses me of plagiarizing myself.)

Prologue  


  
“Finally, I wish to thank my loyal citizens throughout all of Planeptune for making this one-hundred-year anniversary of the defeat of the Deity of Sin and the unification of Gamindustri possible! Through your vigilance and faith in me we have prevented a resurgence in ASIC activity and helped create the Planeptune of today!”  
  
  
Lilac Heart gave one last wave goodbye to her countless citizens, the lucky few watching from below the Basilicom platform she had stood on, while the rest enthusiastically watched from their various televisions and streaming devices. As she strode back inside the Basilicom she heard the whistling of fireworks beginning to launch en-masse from various parts of the Basilicom itself as well as from the legions of hidden Nepgeardam floating in the night sky.  
  
  
With the doors fully closed, Nepgear released both her HDD form and the cheerful, confident facade she had worn for the speech and sighed in relief. She hated this part of the weeklong holiday the most While while her visit to the various memorials of each CPU beforehand always reopened old wounds, she appreciated the somberness and the fact she could at least express her sorrow publicly to the citizens of Gamindustri. Though of course, no one would ever know of how the CPUs actually died beyond the official story that they had died fighting Arfoire.  
  
  
Celebrating the annexation of the other three nations Gamindustri into Planeptune and her “victory” over Arfoire on the other hand, felt wrong in the worst of ways, both due to the cost of it all and how said victory hardly felt like one. No matter what Histoire and the other Oracles told her, she remembered the final words of Arfoire as if it were only yesterday that she had struck down the foul monster. She knew the Deity of Sin was still out there, waiting for the citizens of Gamindustri to falter in their faith so she could weave her spell of lies over them and attempt to destroy the world once again.  
  
  
But at least the holiday was nearly finished, and after she checked in with the Oracles to see how the festivities in former Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox were progressing and how the Share growth compared to previous festivals she could finally get some rest. Speaking of the Oracles, usually Histoire was here to greet her and get the call with the other Oracles started, where was-.  
  
  
Interrupting whatever train of thought she may have had, Nepgear stopped cold as she felt _something_ through her link to the Sharicite. While she normally felt a surge in shares after she gave her speech every year, whatever this was, was no mere boost of her citizens faith in her. Could something have happened to the Sharicite? Some sort of attack by a resurgent ASIC? Worse case scenarios raced through her mind as she transformed back into HDD, summoning Gehaburn into her hands before she flew to confront whatever disturbed the heart of the Basilicom.  
  
  
As the door to the cavernous chamber that held Planeptune’s Sharicite opened Nepgear flew inside, her hands clenched around Gehaburn’s hilt in anticipation. Only, instead of intruders, there was Histoire who was speaking with a young girl with purplish hair, which was done up into two buns except for the long bangs that framed her face which looked oddly similar to Nepgear’s own. Whoever she was, she was currently looking at Nepgear with a mixture of confusion and fright, her eyes occasionally glancing towards the ominously glowing Cursed Sword with understandable trepidation.  
  
  
The scene in front of Nepgear evoked an old memory, precisely her very first memory but with Nepgear in the position of - No this couldn’t be, it was impossible. Whatever energies she had wielded through Gehaburn had prevented this event from occurring, she and the Oracles had discussed it multiple times and each time came to the same agreement that Nepgear could never have a -  
  
  
“Nepgear could please put the sword away and introduce yourself to properly to your new sister.” Histoire said, looking more than a bit exasperated that this was how the two sisters would meet each other for the first time.  
  
  
Sheepishly looking at her older sister, the rattled CPU Candidate finally spoke up. “H-hello there, my name is Solia, and uh, it’s nice to meet you big sister! I’m sorry for surprising you like this.”  
  
  
Slowly floating downwards, Nepgear released her HDD transformation, Gehaburn disappearing along with it. What now stood before the newborn CPU Candidate was not the intimidating True Goddess of Gamindustri, but a rather tired looking, long haired girl wearing a white and purple sailor outfit, with a worn parka hanging from the back like a cape. She hesitantly put her free hand on Solia’s shoulder before a small smile crossed her face.  
  
  
“As far as surprises go, I would say this is a good one little sister.”  
  
  
Watching the exchange, Histoire let out a sigh of relief. While she knew the introduction would most likely go well, she still had worried it may not have gone so smoothly, mainly due to Nepgear’s near omnipresent paranoid. She just hoped that having a sister would influence Nepgear positively while the CPU’s… quirks didn’t rub off on the new Candidate.  
  
  
_________

Chapter One  


  
As the thick tree line began to finally open up, excitement and trepidation coursed through me. On one hand, big sis would probably be more than a bit mad about this little excursion and everything that lead up to it, but on the other, this was supposed to be the true grave of Purple Heart, or as big sis and Histoire called her, Neptune. For someone like myself who was fascinated by the history of Gamindustri before my big sister ascended to being the True Goddess of Gamindustri, this was hallowed ground, hel-heck, this would be hallowed ground to the common citizenry, if they knew about its existence of course.  
  
  
Although the CPUs themselves never left any bodies after dying, thus making their final resting place technically be the former Gamindustri Graveyard, where they all died to the last fighting the Deity of Sin. But Nepgear and the Oracles had some mementos from the CPUs buried at spots in their former nations, so they could rest among their former citizens. The graves in East, West, and South Planeptune that were in the cities and open to the public were all the actual burial sites, yet some digging on my end showed the grave for Purple Heart in Planeptune proper wasn’t the real burial site.  
  
  
I could understand if my big sister had simply kept all the artifacts and mementos for herself, she did wear Neptune’s old parka around after all, but some things were just not in the Basillicom like the katana Neptune wielded. Combine this with my big sister’s mysterious disappearances to this part of CPU Grove during Unification Week when she thought I was asleep, Histoire offhandedly mentioning to me that Neptune had taken my sister there back when she was just a CPU Candidate like myself, and the pieces had come together. All it had taken was a little snooping into the Nepgeardam Network, the machine hivemind that linked all my big sister’s mechanized servants and logged everything they did, to see that there were orders to build _something _out here in the depths at around the same time the other burial sites were built.  
  
  
Finally, the forest opened into a shady clearing, sunlight peeking through the gaps of the thick branches above, illuminating the centerpiece of it all, the tombstone itself. Whereas the “official” tomb of Purple Heart was a massive statue of the former CPU in all her glory, all that stood here to mark her burial site was a simple tomb stone in the shape of the D-Pad clip like the one my sister wore herself. The forest surrounding me stood in place for the carefully manicured and well-kept memorial parks that surrounded the tombs of all the CPUs, both having the same peaceful air about them. On the tomb stone itself it simply read:  
  
  


  
_Neptune_

_Beloved, Goddess, Big Sister and Inspiration_

_You will Always be Remembered_  


  
  
I kneeled down, my fingers brushing over the engraved letters in both reverence and respect all my initial excitement for locating it having drained away due to the gravity of the location. Despite the tombstone itself being over one hundred years old it looked as if it had been placed here yesterday it was so carefully and lovingly maintained. Although the memorials that were open to the public were by no means disrespectful, each one having its own unique style dedicated to the CPUs and Candidates buried there, this felt more… personal. Yes… that was it. It didn’t need to impress and inform the citizens of the deeds and sacrifices of goddesses they only heard about in history lessons and during Unification Week. I was probably the first person to visit this place that didn’t know Neptune in some capacity given the only others who would have visited would be my big sister, Histoire, and maybe some of Nepgear’s human friends back when they were still alive.  
  
  
The peaceful silence and my own train of thought was broken by the distant but increasingly close sound of carefree footsteps crackling leaves and… voices?  
  
  
“Crostie where did you take us?!”  
  
  
“Hey, if you want me to stop messing up your coordinates if let me out once in a while!”  
  
  
“And if you didn’t cause problems I would think about it. Besides, I am sure I can grab some pretty cool looking bugs from this place at least! Other than this trail it does look pretty wild so I am sure I can grab some rare specimens. Besides, I’m probably the protagonist of some sort of spin off at this point so I am sure there is some totally plot important reason for being here.”  
  
  
“Ughhh, you sure can turn anything into a positive, can’t you?”  
  
  
Shi-shoot this was bad. The entire CPU Grove was off limits to anyone but my big sister, myself, and Histoire, and this spot even more so! Citizens were not supposed to know the CPUs had human names or forms and this could raise questions, and oh man oh man if big sis found I was snooping behind her back I was so grounded!  
  
  
I reached and _pulled _on my connection to the Sharicite, transforming into my HDD and launched myself towards the closing sound of the horribly lost bug catcher that had somehow managed to get herself lost into the heart of one of the most heavily patrolled parts of Gamindustri! Although the thick branches prevented me from spotting her by air, she certainly wasn’t hard to find given she had continued to talk to that friend of hers on whatever mobile device she was using (she could have at least kept it not on speaker!) and thankfully I managed to spot her before she stumbled upon the gravesite.  
  
  
Alright, it was time to put on the ole Goddess act and channel all those super boring lessons on “Goddess Professionalism.” Kei and my big sis gave to me.  
  
  
“Greetings citizen! I do hope you realize you are trespassing on land that only Lilac Heart and myself can enter, correct? This is a rather serious crime you are committing.”  
  
  
As I began descending, only stopping until I was hovering a foot off the ground, she whipped her head towards the sound of my voice, allowing me to get a better look and… she looked kind of like Nepgear. While the purple hair and D-Pad Style clips were one thing, both were very popular in Planeptune, if I didn’t know any better, I would say she was some sort of long-lost sister!  
  
  
“Oh, is this really restricted? I am so sorry about that but I kind of just, got lost here. You sure I can’t stay here, I am sure you won’t mind me just taking a few insects for my collection, you can even watch to make sure I don’t do anything dastardly?”  
  
  
Man, this one was really brave, stupid, or both. Even if I wasn’t as imposing as my big sis, most people would be pissi-peeing themselves in this sort of situation. “You may not stay here citizen, however since I understand this was a mistake, I won’t put this on your record. I understand that humans are fallible after all and wouldn’t want to punish you for a simple mistake like that.”  
  
  
To the public, I was the friendlier but still aloof Lilac Sister compared to the cool and intimidating older sister Lilac Heart, and its not like I didn’t mind acting that way. I always felt that my big sister was a bit harsh at times when it came to punishment of citizens who broke the law. Besides, on a slightly more self-serving note, me not logging it means big sis wouldn’t find out and thus I won’t get grounded or get into a very awkward conversation about why I was at her sister’s grave. Anything involving the days of yore was always a bit of a touchy subject for her.  
  
  
“Aww thanks but actually I’m-“  
  
  
I cut whatever she was going to say off. Just because I was playing nice CPU I couldn’t have her lollygag and stick around after all! “Let me just scan your ID Chip and I can fly you to the edge of here and make sure you don’t get into any trouble.”  
  
  
I raise my arm up with but a thought the Smart-Gear on my wrist begun to scan her. The handy device was near ubiquitous among Gamindustri, though given I was the CPU Candidate mine was unique compared to what most people people received, and that was before the alterations I had made to it.  
  
  
“As I was trying to say before, I-“  
  
  
Why wasn’t anything coming up? Every citizen in Gamindustri had an ID Chip put in them from birth! It allowed them make purchases without the need for outdated physical credits, allowed doctors to quickly access medical records, authorities to track down missing persons and more.  
  
  
Unless… I chilled at the mere thought. Was this girl… part of ASIC? Big sis always emphasized the need to be watchful for their return, but I never thought they would actually make a comeback. What nefarious misdeeds could this fiend have been planning on doing to Purple Heart’s grave?  
  
  
My tone now pure ice, I cut off whatever lie she was trying to pawn off on me. “Miss, I am going to have to take you to the Basilicom for questioning about your lack of ID and any potential ASIC activities you may be engaged in. Please do not resist or I will apply lethal force.”  
  
  
Her eyes widened as she now must have realized I caught on to her tricks. “This is all a big understanding miss scary CPU girl, I don’t have any idea what ASIC is and-“  
  
  
She leapt back as I lunged forward, pulling some sort of notepad off her belt in the process. “Crostie its time to beam on back home, don’t you think?!”  
  
  
“No need to tell me, you can use my powers so go will ya!”  
  
  
And with that a fu-freaking portal opened right in front of the ASIC agent. It had to be that notepad she was wielding! No way was she going to get away from me! I summoned one of my gun-blades and fired a beam of bright hot plasma and-  
  
  
“My Nepnote, oh this is baaad!”  
  
  
Direct hit! And big sis said all those video games didn’t improve my – ohhh she was right, this WAS bad. Unfortunately, my crack shot at her portal making notebook (how did that even work?!) didn’t close it, and the tear in reality was only getting BIGGER by the second! All thoughts of grabbing the prisoner were now forgotten as I was now focused on NOT being pulled into the out of control portal. I gritted my teeth as I used as much power as I could to try and fly away! I had never channeled so much Share energy in my life but despite all that I could see the portal as it grew ever closer.  
  
  
After what seemed like eternity, something gave, specifically my HDD and I felt the transformation snap, my body reverting into my human form. I was only briefly aware of the whipping winds and sensation of falling before the strain of being forcibly broken out of HDD caught up to me, and everything faded into blissful unconsciousness.  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

  
I groggily opened my eyes, rubbing the weariness from them. Panic began to set in as I slowly started to remember the chain of events that had led to my unconsciousness. Wherever I was, this certainly wasn’t my bedroom or anywhere in the Basilicom. Heck, this didn’t look like the CPU Grove. What the -.  
  
  
“Mmfhh! Ge—mmfgh!”  
  
  
I heard some sort of muffled sound below me and some sort of squirming under me and oh goodness I was sitting on someone’s face! I leapt up in surprise and looked at the poor, red faced girl who I had inadvertently fallen onto. She was now currently sprawled out on the ground trying to regain her breath, still clearly a bit shell-shocked.  
  
  
“Oh, did I hurt you I am so so sorry!”  
  
  
I offered her a hand which she shakily takes, pulling herself off the dirt.  
  
  
“I’m fine, thank you but-” Her red eyes turn to glare at me and she huffs “What’s the deal with you falling out of the sky right onto my face huh?”  
  
  
My face reddened with embarrassment before my thoughts turned to more serious matters. Embarrassing introductions aside, I had to get back to the Basilicom as fast as possible and even if I could turn back into HDD, my link to the Sharicite at the moment was unusually weak, I couldn’t reveal my nature as a goddess to a civilian.  
  
  
“I was chasing down a suspected ASIC agent when she deployed some sort of portal that launched me all the way here.” It was the truth after all, just with the part about me being a CPU left out. In human form I could still masquerade as a member of the Guild, as I had all the identification and clearance of a high-level member and the combat skills to boot.  
  
  
Her eyes widened in surprise, “ASIC? Those bozos are still active? Once I meet up with my big sister, we can get you to the Basilicom. I was SUPPOSED to meet up with her earlier to hunt down an Ancient Dragon but you kind of interrupted those plans.”  
  
  
Ahh, they were fossil hunters. Ancient Dragons went extinct before I was born, hunted down to last by my big sister and the Nepgeardam, but finding and selling their remains was lucrative and many adventurers set out to find them. Would explain why this girl and her sister were out so far in the wilderness. I would prefer to head straight back to civilization but…  
  
  
I give her a sunny smile and reply “Ahh, I’m sorry for interrupting you! I know how it is with big sisters. Mine always gets super worried whenever I am late to anything and I never hear the end of it!”  
  
  
This draws a knowing grimace from her. Heh, I guess her big sis must be a bit like mine in that regard.  
  
  
“Well, let's get a move on. My name is Uni by the way.” She looks a bit surprised when the name doesn’t really elicit any response, perhaps she is used to people thinking it was odd?  
  
  
“It's nice to meet you Uni, I’m Solia!” I’m quick to follow her lead as she starts walking, gesturing for me to follow along, and we descend into forest depths.  
  
__________  
  
  
Even though it was really cool to meet someone my age that wasn’t just over the internet, our walk was mostly quiet. Thoughts about the ASIC Agent and what had happened to her swirled through my mind. Meanwhile Uni was clearly focused on guiding us through the forest, though occasionally she would glance back at me as if she wanted to ask me something.  
  
  
Suddenly Uni raised a hand for me stop walking before she suddenly pulled me into a bush.  
  
  
“Why are you stuffing us into this shrubbery?!” Man, and I was so happy that Uni breaking my landing had kept me from getting too dirty, but this was sure to mess up my hair and skirt!  
  
  
“Shhhh! Can you hear that?”  
  
  
I strained my ears to listen and indeed I heard something, albeit I had only ever heard the sound at the Central Planeptune Zoo and the occasional documentary.  
  
  
“Dogoo! Dogoo? Dogoogoogoo!”  
  
  
“What are Dogoos doing here!”  
  
  
Uni’s eyes raised in clear confusion, “What do you mean by that? Damned pests are practically everywhere!”  
  
  
Before I can respond to that... interesting statement given the rarity of Dogoos, Uni cut me off.  
  
  
“Shit, we can’t keep hiding. Even if they haven’t gotten our scent yet something is causing them to move towards this direction rapidly.”  
  
  
Whatever the case for this sudden increase in Dogoos, we both practically leapt out of the push and sure enough, bearing down on our location was a veritable horde of the cute little crit-no, despite how adorable they were Dogoos were still monsters. If I had any doubts about ASIC coming back, the fact that a swarm of Dogoos was able to exist confirmed that something foul was going on in Gamindustri. The Nepgeardam would have normally prevented such a swarm from ever growing to anywhere near this size.  
  
  
Uni pulled an assault rifle from her inventory before she looked towards me “Do you have any weapons on you Solia?”  
  
  
My reply to that was pulling out my own twin beam sabers and flipping on the activation switch, the comforting _snap hiss_ of the ignition of the beam of plasma helping to ease the tension that was caused by swarm of Dogoos bearing down on us.  
  
  
“Let’s get to work!”  
  
__________  
  
  
“Hey Solia, have you noticed that most of these Dogoos have been running past us?” Uni interjected as she paused her gunfire to reload her weapon.  
  
  
“Could it be your sister?” I replied hopefully, grimacing as the slimy bits of the Dogoo I sliced in half splattered all over me. I was definitely going to need a shower after this, and I prayed that my clothes would come out of the wash unstained and clean  
  
  
“Maybe, but we would have probably seen here by now and Noire would never be so sloppy!” She puffed out her chest in pride at the mention of big sister.  
  
  
“Besides given my luck so far during this entire little excursion.” She paused for a second to gun down a Dogoo that had gotten just a bit too close.  
  
  
“I am guessing it is the Ancient-“  
  
  
Cutting her off was a titanic roar that sent the few Dogoos who _were _gunning for us fleeing in all directions.  
  
  
Descending down from the sky on titanic golden wings, the behemoth landed in front of us, the earth shaking from the weight of monster. Trees snapped as its tail whipped out in anger before it let out ANOTHER earth-shattering roar. This was a fuc-flipping living Ancient Dragon!  
  
  
“U-Uni, I think we should get out of here!” If I had access to HDD, I could easily take down this monster that had seemingly came back from extinction and take Uni to get her memory wiped of my secret afterwards. Unfortunately, my link to the Sharicite was still too weak!  
  
  
Uni however looked as cavalier as could be, only winking at me “Stand back Solia, I got this!”  
  
  
And with that the glow of an HDD Transformation covered her body and what emerged was a figure who I only had seen standing alongside the statue of her older sister in the memorial to the Lastation CPUs. Floating before me was Black Sister in the flesh!  
  
  
It… It all made sense now! The portal, the weakened connection to the Sharicite, the inexplicable horde of Dogoos, and the appearance of an extinct Ancient Dragon! The appearance of the long-deceased CPU Candidate of a dead nation was simply the massive, glowing capstone that unified the explanation which presented itself to me!  
  
  
“Holy shit I traveled back in time!”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

  
  
“EX Multibuster!”  
  
  
The massive cannon Black Sister- no, Uni, wielded glowed ominously before letting out a blast larger than even the biggest guns mounted on any of the Nepgeardam could have unleashed and impacted the dragon square in its chest. The beast let out a hateful roar that was only deafened by the sound made when its body crashed into ground from the force of the attack.  
  
  
“Get out of her Solia! This thing’s armor is too thick for you to – Aghhhhh!” Uni was swatted from the sky by a gout of fire from the Ancient Dragon, which was slowly getting back to its feet, its armor scorched black where Uni’s attack hit it.  
  
  
“Uni are you okay!”  
  
  
“Just go find my sister!”  
  
  
I give her a quick salute of confirmation before I start to run off, though guilt burned through me as I did so. Leaving Uni when I had helped my sister fight monsters bigger than this one felt wrong, albeit Nepgear’s power eclipsed any of the old CPU’s but still, if only I had my HDD. But my link to…  
  
  
Wait, no. As my sister once said to me back when I was learning to transform, the primary limitation to a CPU going HDD was mental. I couldn’t transform because I thought I couldn’t transform. I was still linked to the past Planeptune’s Sharicite as I could still feel the link after all. It wasn’t weakened in anyway, it just felt like that because I was so used to having the Shares of all Gamindustri powering me. But if this was what my sister used to sustain herself off of, then so could I!  
  
  
I closed my eyes and focused on the connection. Even if my sister wasn’t here, I could do this. I could transform, and I could help Uni! The satisfaction I felt when I felt the sensation of HDD wash over me as I assumed my true form was similar to what I felt when I had transformed for the very first time! But I couldn’t just keep patting myself on the back, there was a dragon to slay!  
  
__________  
  
  
Uni felt the gritted her teeth as she felt scorching heat wash over her as she dodged yet another blast of fire from the creature before firing back a few pot shots with her gun. Now that she didn’t have someone to constantly watch out and prevent from getting squashed the fight was a lot easier, albeit one that was still difficult. It wasn’t that Solia wasn’t a competent fighter, she had done a fine job keeping those Dogoos from getting too close to her, but for an Ancient Dragon of this size there was a reason they were only hunted down by large parties of Guild agents or by CPUs such as herself.  
  
  
She had (literally) clipped the creature’s wing’s, her cannon having made short work of the membrane that provided the dragon its ability to fly, but killing the creature itself was a far more difficult task, if only she could get a clear shot of the creature’s mouth or the spot where she had-.  
  
  
“CPU Candidate Lilac Sister has arrived to banish this foul creature back to extinction! Feel the power of my Righteous Enfilade!” And with that bombastic declaration, a succession of lilac and blue blasts of plasma struck the creature in the chest, directly hitting the same spot that Uni had hit with her EX Multibuster  
  
  
Uni looked behind and it was… Solia? The voice and hairstyle of the CPU Candidate were certainly similar enough to the strange girl who fell out of the sky. Gone was the Planeptune colored bolero, shirt, and jacket. Instead was a processor that was oddly similar to Nepgear’s. The only major differences were the wings which were blade-like in shape, the addition of various pieces of padding and armor to her shoulders and joints, and the fact that she duel-wielded two smaller gun blades.  
  
  
Combined with the same hair color, similar faces, and the fact that they wore the same panties (though Uni would swear up and down she had no idea what Nepgear’s looked like.) there was no way this girl wasn’t related to Nepgear and Neptune in some way! Of course, the questions would have to wait until after the fight as even Solia hitting the weakened spot still hadn’t been enough to put the beast down, which even now was recovering from the barrage, but it gave her an idea.  
  
  
“Solia!” The Planeptune(?) CPU Candidate jerked in surprise as she heard her name be called out. Uni scoffed a bit; did she seriously think she would be that dumb to not connect Solia with the very similar looking Lilac Sister who just so happened to appear after she ran off?  
  
  
“Yes, Black Sister?”  
  
  
“It's been protecting the spot I hit it earlier, but you just showed it can’t exactly keep track of the two of us gunning for it at once, so if you can keep it distracted I bet I can land a direct hit on the weakened armor and finally put this stupid lizard down!”  
  
  
“Sounds good to me!” Happily grinning, Solia flew off towards the beast. She dodged swipes left and right from the dragon, which was clearly attempting to keep her away from the charred and weakened armor of its chest. Whilst she occasionally threw an exploratory slash to keep the dragon distracted, it was clear that she was sticking to the plan and trying to give Uni an opening for the kill shot.  
  
  
Yes, there it was! Her shot was all lined up and now all she needed to do was pull the-.  
  
  
“Volcano Drive!”  
  
  
For the second time this fight, another CPU made an unannounced appearance, though this one was far, far more familiar to Uni and the entrance was definitely more spectacular. The Lastation CPU dived in from behind, punching through the thick armor of the dragon’s back as if it was paper before exploding through the front of it in a shower of charred dragon meat as she impacted the ground, cratering it and launching dirt and rock into the air. She turned around, smugly looking at her handiwork as the Ancient Dragon, now with a sizable hole through its chest, fell to ground.  
  
  
“Noire! I had that! No need to steal my kill”  
  
  
“Should have taken the shot sooner than little sister.”  
  
  
Yep, that was Noire alright.  
  
  
_______  
  
  
I floated, completely still as I tried to take in the sheer overload of awesomeness that had just occurred. I had fought alongside my sister’s contemporary in a pitched fight against an Ancient Dragon of all things, and nearly took it down before Black Heart EXPLODED it! I mean, no one was as cool as my big sister obviously buuuut for someone like myself who was fascinated by the long dead CPUs, seeing them in action and fighting alongside them was super-duper awesome!  
  
  
“And who might you be? I certainly don’t recall Planeptune getting another CPU Candidate. Neptune would have certainly announced such a thing to all of us.” Black Heart, or Noire as Uni had called her, was now staring at me, curiosity shining in her green eyes.  
  
  
I floated there in silence, still just… taking it all in. Shi-shoot she had asked me a question. Well here goes nothing!  
  
  
“Greetings Lady Blackheart! I am Lilac Sister though you can call me Solia! I am the CPU Candidate of Planeptune, one that is… sometime in the future. I don’t know if you know her yet, but I am Nepgear’s younger sister!” This was probably before my big sis had met the Lastation CPUs after all. Although my information was rather limited despite all my digging, I knew my big sis had only met the two shortly before the final fight with the Deity of Sin that had claimed both their lives.  
  
  
“I knew it! I knew there was some sort of relation to Nepgear!”  
  
  
Both me and Black Heart turned our heads, a bit surprised at Uni’s rather sudden outburst.  
  
  
“It's been bothering me for a bit, but you look so similar in both forms, your clothes are similar, and you wear the same striped-.“ Her face went bright red and she sputtered for a few seconds, completely tongue tied. Perhaps she had been referring to my socks? But my sister wore long stockings and Uni already mentioned clothes. Hmmm...  
  
  
“A-anyways, I knew there was some sort of relation. But how did you even get here? Given you fell out of the sky onto me I somehow doubt it was exactly intentional.”  
  
  
“Well I did say earlier that I had a run in with an ASIC agent whose portal device put me here. I just originally thought it simply had translocated me, but it's pretty clear now that it was certainly more than just a change in location.”  
  
  
This time it was Noire who asked the question. “And what tipped you off to that?”  
  
  
“Oh, that’s easy! You two have been dead for over a hundred years after all, so getting to fight alongside you against an Ancient Dragon of all things is a pretty big indicator of that.”  
  
  
And with that simple statement, the mood dropped instantly, with Uni’s face showing clear shock whilst Noire’s morphed into a tamer, but equally pained grimace.  
  
  
“B-but, how?! Especially if your Nepgear’s little sister! Me and Nepgear should be ruling at the same time and everything! We even talked about performing our ascension to CPU together so-!”  
  
  
“Save the questions for later Uni! For now, let's head back to the Basilicom and I'll call a meeting with the rest of the CPUs so Solia can tell us the full story. The presence of her here already warrants such a thing, and if what she says is true important everyone hears it.” While she tried to keep up a steady tone, after having grown up with my big sister it was pretty easy to tell when the confidence was real or forced like Noire's was currently.  
  
  
Crap, that was just a bit crass and probably the opposite of proper etiquette...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

  
___________  
Noire internally sighed as she looked back at Uni, who was understandably pensive, and Solia, whose eyes darted away guiltily when Noire’s gaze almost made eye contact with her. She felt bad for having been so curt back there, but it wasn’t as if she could NOT react to the unsettling revelation of Uni’s death. It may have been almost three years by now, but she still remembered almost losing Uni to that virus as if it was yesterday. Noire knew that she herseld would eventually die or at the very least eventually step down from her role as CPU, but she had always had faith that long after she was gone Uni would be living a long and fruitful life and Lastation and her people would be in good hands, Uni’s hands, when that happened. But… if Solia really was a time traveler it could mean that they could prevent whatever ended Uni’s life. Noire had been through her fair share of world ending crises that she had helped avert after all, and with proper preparation, she was sure this one would be no different.  
  
  
Just over the horizon was the beginning of the familiar, beautiful sprawl that was her Lastation. And looking at Solia’s face, it seemed that she was appreciating the view as well. Had she not been there before? She would have hoped that Nepgear and whoever had replaced herself and Uni would have had good relations… or it could just be a case of Solia being so young she simply hadn’t the time to see it.  
  
  
“This your first time seeing Lastation? You seem to be impressed.”  
  
  
“Uhh, not my first time seeing it, I have been here a bunch of times its just…” The Candidate’s face screwed itself into a thoughtful look and she pondered for a few seconds before she finally continued.  
  
  
“Its just that the CPU who took control of Lastation after you two were gone did some pretty extensive reconstruction of the city before I was born. The only time I got to see the old Lastation architecture before this was through photos and seeing the Basilicom, which was the one part of the city she didn’t remodel, so seeing this is really cool! I love the diesalpunk style it has!”  
  
  
Strange. It wasn’t uncommon for CPUs to change things to be more in line with their own vision, but usually it was the Basilicom that was still the most drastically changed given its where a CPU took up personal residence. Still, it was nice that she could appreciate the Lastation aesthetic. Her nation’s style had its detractors, many calling it “soulless”, but Noire found its simple functionalism to be beautiful in its own way that set it apart from the other nations.  
  
  
Soon enough, the Lastation Basilicom was in sight and the three touched down on the balcony, detransforming before Noire led them inside. Time for business, which meant wrangling the other CPUs to come over, and given the rather sudden nature of the meeting it was going to be like herding Dogoos. Neptune was a great ally to have when she took things seriously but getting her to take anything seriously was a total pain. Knowing Vert, she would be in the middle of a Four Goddesses Online Raid, and Noire had played that game more than enough to know how long those could last. Blanc herself was fine, but her sisters on the other hand… were certainly a handful.  
  
  
“Uni, can you look after Solia while I go call the other CPUs here? Maybe make so food for the three of us while we wait for everyone to get here. I am hungry and considering we both had to skip breakfast I am sure you are starving as well.”  
  
  
“Noire, anything worth cooking will take ages to finish! The meeting will be over and done with by time I would be done!”  
  
  
Noire gave Uni a pointed look “Uni, do remember that Neptune is included in this meeting. It will be ages before we can even get it started.”  
  
  
“I…. You… do have a point.”  
  
  
“Besides, you are MY sister after all! I trust you to whip up something good in a decent time!”  
  
  
Noire winked at Uni who gave her an affectionate smile in return. She worried sometimes that Uni would think Noire constantly pushing her was because she didn’t think she was good enough, but Noire did it out of love. She wanted to challenge Uni and force her to new heights because she knew Uni had that potential to surpass her if she was pushed to it. Now, to get all the CPUs here so they could ensure Uni would live long enough to reach that point.  
  
____________  
  
“Thanks for offering to help… even if you only seem to know the basics.”  
  
  
I looked sheepishly at Uni as I cracked another egg. “Yeah, our Basilicom has an automated chef who does most the cooking for us, so I never really learned to cook beyond scrambled eggs and man was that a disaster!”  
  
  
“I’m not surprised Nepgear built a robot for that. Pretty sure if you gave her the time, she could and would build machine to do anything.”  
  
  
“Heh, you got that right; she really is great like that.”  
  
  
“Hey Solia? Has… Nepgear ever told you how she… felt about me? I-I don’t mean to pry of course its not like I li-.”  
  
  
I laughed. “No reason to be embarrassed, I know how closed off and reserved big sis is when it comes to feelings and stuff like that. I honestly can’t tell you too much, as she never likes talking about the other CPUs too much and I try not to pry very much either, she gets… sad when she thinks about the past too much. But whenever she has spoken of you Uni, she said that she respected you a bunch and that you were her equal in every way!”  
  
  
“Oh… w-well thanks for telling me Solia.” Uni’s face had a rather thoughtful look which was rather understandable. Having my big sis of all people say that you were their equal was definitely something to think on. Even though they may not realize it would be Nepgear who would peacefully unite Gamindustri, I am sure even as a CPU Candidate her innate leadership, bravery, and all-around amazingness (even if she had her quirks at times) was clear to everyone!  
  
  
We fell back into a comfortable silence, I focused on making these scrambled eggs (but right this time!) while Uni… did everything else. Apparently, it was around noon, but due to the Ancient Dragon they had to skip breakfast to kill it before it could attack any nearby towns, so we were making a belated brunch meal for the three of us.  
  
  
I was glad we were talking again after I made that faux pas earlier. Even though I didn’t know Uni for too long, I felt like I had a… friend, maybe? Its not like I didn’t have friends, but they were all internet friends who thought I was just some normal human, and I couldn’t even speak to them over mic due to security concerns. Uni was the first person, human or goddess, that wasn’t my big sis or one of the Oracles, to really know me. Plus, I couldn’t deny it was cool to put a face to one of my historical idols, who Nepgear spoke nothing but praise for when she did deign to speak about the past to me. I had always been curious about – oh fu-frick the eggs are starting to burn aghhhhh!  
  
_____________  
“Just in time Uni! This breakfast looks…” Noire’s face went from adorably pleased to a mixture of confusion and worry and her nose scrunched itself up as she must have just caught a whiff of the odor my disaster made. “Why is there the smell of an Ancient Dragon’s breathe coming from my kitchen?” She looked nervously behind us. Crap, I thought we had gotten the charred smell of my mess under control!  
  
  
I groaned in embarrassment. “Hehe yeahhhh sorry Noire, while Uni made what you see here…” I gesture to the bacon, pancakes, and breakfast sausage all neatly arrayed on the counter. “I tried to make eggs and I may have burned them just a little bit.”  
  
  
“If you count the pan catching fire and one of our pots catching fire, then yes Solia did burn the eggs ‘just a little bit’.” Uni deadpanned.  
  
  
“Uni!” Nuts she betrayed me! But really, why would I of all people underestimate the unnatural compulsion big sisters have to get the truth out of you. The number of times Nepgear forced me to fess up to whatever I wasn’t telling her through the big sister stare of disapproval and love was innumerable.  
  
  
“Well, I guess its breakfast minus the eggs, at least the smell will stop the others from wanting leftovers when they get here. Still, thank you for making breakfast Uni and…” Noire looked over to me “Thank you for at least trying to help. If it was Neptune here, she would have just sat around on her butt and played videogames. Anyways let’s dig in and enjoy ourselves before the others arrive.”  
  
  
Odd. Perhaps Neptune wasn’t as stubborn as my big sis, so Histoire’s constant nagging about taking a break and to take it easy worked on Neptune and made Noire think she was lazy? That was the only explanation I could think for now.  
  
  
There wasn’t much small talk at the table really. We were all pretty hungry and Uni was dam-dang good cook so we ate as fast as we all politely could, we were CPUs, not some sloppy humans at some diner after all. Plus, I will admit I was more than a bit nervous, and there were butterflies dancing throughout my stomach. I mean, I was about to meet all the CPUs and given my uh, bad choice of words earlier I hoped I didn’t mess up this either. Plus, I had to interact with my sister who didn’t know I was her sister (yet) so that would also be nerve-wracking. Big sis could get pretty intense after all, and it was only the fact I was her younger sister that it wasn’t ever really directed at me, but I had seen enough humans who had gotten on her bad side for one reason or another to know she was scary when she needed to be. I know some of it was just from them being human, but I still remembered when I was newly born, and she hadn’t realized I wasn’t her little sister yet; not all of that fear and reverence was due to a simple difference in status.  
  
_______________  
  
We were just about to start taking away the plates to be washed in the kitchen when balcony door opened and in stepped in White Heart… who wasn’t as tall as I thought she would have been, especially given how historical records always emphasized her legendary toughness.  
  
  
“You better have a good reason to have called us over here. You usually are more well organized and less cagey about these things. I guess Neptune has been rubbing off on you.”  
  
  
Noire sighed. “Sorry Blanc, but if I provided you all with more information, I would have gotten badgered by questions which would have slowed everything down, especially since what I know is incredibly limited at best.”  
  
  
With that she glanced over towards me before looking back to Blanc “I see you didn’t bring the twins with you?”  
  
  
“They were both taking their nap and I didn’t want to force them awake only for them to hear apparently ‘disturbing information’ as you put it. That combination is a recipe for disaster.”  
  
  
“Yeah, it would be best if they got to hear it in a more… gentle fashion.” I looked guiltily at Uni; whose face was a bit downcast as she said that. Given how young they are I doubt would take the news of their fellow CPUs, let alone their big sister and fellow twin, dying to the Deity of Sin well at all.  
  
  
“Oh, and to think I got here at nearly the same time at all as Blanc despite me being in the middle of a raid and oh my who is this, she is absolutely adorable! If I didn’t know better, I would say Nepgear had gotten herself a little sister!” And there was Green Heart, and man the memorial to her didn’t lie when it came to her – oh goodness I am getting smothered by the boobies! Soo… soft…  
  
  
“Vert! This is Solia and I can’t have you smothering her to death when she is why we are holding this entire meeting in the first place!” Noire not so gently pulled Green Heart away from me, revealing my now bright red face to everyone. Was this how Uni felt when I fell on her? No, Vert was definitely more… smothering than even that.  
  
  
“Ahh yes you did call us for business. It is quite odd that it is Lastation of all places we are meeting, normally it is Neptune’s Basilicom we all gather in, for work or for simply hanging out. I certainly hope you invite us over more often Noire. You are a better host than Neptune already by simply being ready for us to arrive!”  
  
  
“Vert, you of all people shouldn’t be lecturing people on being a good host, or have you forgotten the time you decided to host a party at your place, only for us to have to set it up since you were too busy playing videogames!” Blanc certainly looked _pissed_ about that one. Hel-heck she could just maybe give my sister a run for her money in the scares department!  
  
  
“Blanc it seems you have forgotten that time you had us all come to visit Super Nintenland but were too tired to even properly show us around! Talk about bad manners!”  
  
  
“Oh don’t you bring that up thundertits-“  
  
  
As the argument continued, I nervously sidled my way towards Uni before furtively asking “Is this… normal?” I know the CPUs back in the day conflicted and competed with one another, but I expected it to be… more diplomatic?  
  
  
“Yes, they banter all the time like this. Don’t think anything of it, they will be back to acting perfectly reasonable with one another as soon as this whole arguement finishes up.”  
  
  
Noire huffed, “And now we wait for Neptune. It will probably be another hour before she gets here! Why does she have to be so-.”  
  
  
“Late?”  
  
  
Entering the Basilicom was Purple Heart, former CPU of Planeptune and the big sister to my big sister! In person, she was even more beautiful and elegant then any photo or statue could properly depict, looking rather smug at a now gaping mouthed Noire. Wow… I can see why my big sis attributed so much of her success and inspiration to her…  
  
  
“Noire, do you REALLY think I would be late for you inviting us over to your place? That’s certainly a rare occasion I wouldn’t want to miss. Besides.” She gestured behind her to the two figures floating behind her. “These two helped keep me on schedule, even if we had to fly slower so Histy could keep up.”  
  
  
Histoire, who currently had that grumpy and concerned look she adopted whenever she was trying to not say something to my big sis, floated to Neptune’s left… While to Neptune’s right…  
  
  
It took me a few seconds to recognize her, but even though she held herself… differently, wasn’t in the majestic HDD that signified her status as the one True Goddess of Gamindustri, and didn’t have the Holy Weapon Gehaburn in hand, I could still recognize my very own big sister. She looked and smiled at Uni, who blushed a bit before sending back a smile of her own before averting her eyes. She must have noticed I had been staring as her blue eyes now rested on me in slight shock. The look she gave was not too dissimilar to when my Nepgear first saw me, though with less suspicion and more curiosity.  
  
  
“Well, now that all of you are here, lets cut to the chase! As I said earlier before Neptune had arrived, this is Solia and she has some rather pertinent information. Solia, may you introduce yourself please?”  
  
  
“Uhhhh h-hello everyone.” I stuttered nervously. EVERYONE was looking at me after all. “As Noire said earlier, my name is Solia! My uh, other name however, is Lilac Sister and I’m the CPU Candidate of the future Planeptune, and Nepgear’s younger sister.”  
  
  
Unfortunately, my audience was still surprised (despite me not even mentioning the dying thing yet). Most of all my big sister to be, judging by the look on her face.  
  
  
“What the goodness!?”  
  
  
Oh boy, I know it’s bad when she starts throwing the ‘G’ word around…


	5. Chapter 5

Nepgear didn’t know about the others, but she still could hardly believe that Solia was apparently her time travelling little sister. Having an alternate, human version of her big sis was one thing but this…

“Neptune… this means that I am the CPU and that you…”

Her big sister gently on her shoulder, looking her right in the eyes, before speaking “Nepgear, we both know that someday you will succeed me and become the CPU of Planeptune, but after I step down , I will be there to help guide you as CPU, even though you will probably surpass the need for my help rather quickly.” Nepgear smiled and quickly gave Neptune a hug. While she loved her big sister’s constant cheer and humor she displayed while in human form, sometimes she preferred the comforting maturity she displayed in HDD.

“Can we let Solia start up again, preferably without interruptions this time? I have as many questions as you all do, but they will all be answered the fastest if we don’t interrupt her every two seconds with a barrage of questions!”

Nepgear could tell Noire was getting rather (understandably) antsy, given both the tone of her voice and the impatient tapping of her shoe. Yes, it probably had to do with whatever information Noire had mentioned was “uncomfortable”, as whilst a time travelling CPU Candidate who was apparently Nepgear’s little sister was surprising, it would take more than that to shake the usually unflappable Noire (unless it was Neptune of course.)

All eyes were back on Solia, who shrunk back nervously before continuing. “Umm anyways… So, I don’t know of HOW far I went back in time, but in the not so distant future a group of people who call themselves ASIC starts to make an appearance. At first, they seem to just pirate games, but in reality, they are actually working to summon the Deity of Sin, Arfoire, who wants to destroy all of Gamindustri! Eve-!”

“Hey wait a second! We have already beaten those bastards before so why are you telling us about this? Did they make a comeback or something?”

Yes, Blanc did make a point. Why was Solia talking about the Deity of Sin like they had never heard of her before, it's not like Nepgear would ever forget about her nor ASIC and what they had done to Gamindustri.

“Solia, did your Nepgear manage to liberate the CPUs from their imprisonment at the CPU graveyard by CFW Magic?” Histoire interjected. Nepgear could tell from her face that she was certainly thinking of something, thank goodness for that.

“Yes, but how did you kno-.”

“Please, tell us what happened after that. I think I may have a hypothesis as to what is going on.”

Solia certainly looked confused, but she continued “Well… after Nepgear saved everyone from the Gamindustri Graveyard, everyone was wondering how to defeat the Deity of Sin, who was far too powerful to defeat conventionally. My big sis had heard of rumors of a holy weapon, known as Gehaburn, that was able to banish all manner of evil! After a long search, she and the others found the sword and took the fight to the Deity of Sin.”

Holy Sword? Gehaburn? Nepgear had never heard of such rumors about anything of the sort. What the goodness was going on here?

“Unfortunately, even with the holy weapon, everyone but Nepgear was slain in the ensuing battle, though she managed to defeat the Deity of Sin in the end, avenging everyone and saving Gamindustri!”

Nepgear felt her heart plummet at that, though looking at the faces of the others, they were certainly almost as horrified as well. Was Solia from some sort of bad future, a ‘bad end’ as Neptune would say?

“Neptune, Uni, everyone all… dead?”

Solia sputtered on “Y-yes they are... But it-it all turned out good in the end! After you saved Gamindustri, the Oracles from Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox, worried about the lack of CPU protection in the face of ASIC remnants and general unrest as well as seeing your amazing leadership skills, beseeched for you to annex their respective nations into Planeptune in order to protect them. At first, you didn’t want to do so, but your good nature won out and they were incorporated as East, West, and South Planeptune respectively You were then inaugurated not only as the new CPU of Planeptune, but as the first True Goddess of Gamindustri! You turned a united Gamindustri into a utopia under your rule and on the hundredth anniversary I was born as your CPU Candidate and loving little sister!”

True Goddess!? She had to be joking! That-that was basically just a myth though. Gamindustri always had competing nations, it was that way since forever! But the tone of Solia’s voice and the look on her face belied the truth. Nepgear could hardly imagine how Solia’s Nepgear dealt with the work of ruling all of Gamindustri, and all alone too… No other goddesses to keep her company for a hundred years, IF and Compa and all her other friends would have eventually gone too, that must be so lonely…

“I can’t see Mina doing that, she has always supported Lowee and managed the nation just fine even without me for three years!” White Heart was clenching her hands in frustration and anger.

Nepgear understood that feeling all too well, any CPU would be horrified at the loss of their nation, even if it was a peaceful transfer. She may not have known the conflict of the Console Wars that Neptune and the others partook in, but Nepgear still loved and cared for Planeptune deeply, and the she would be devastated if something like that happened to it. Heck, she would be devastated if anything happened to Lastation, Lowee, or Leanbox too!

“Blanc, Lowee still had Rom and Ram to protect the nation with their mere presence as CPU Candidates while you were trapped in the Gamindustri Graveyard. Plus, would Mina even be in a state to rule like she had done previously after you and your sisters died? You know she cares for you, and that she loves Rom and Ram like they are her own children, and our nations were already in rather dire straits at the time due to our extended imprisonment, I cannot imagine us being killed would have made it any better. As much as I hate to say it, I know Chika would likely request such a thing to grant Leanbox’s citizens the protection of a CPU. I do hope everything turned out well for her...”

“So, when you were saying that my successor had remodeled Lastation… You were referring to Nepgear weren’t you Solia?” Noire stated, growing realization spreading across her face.

“Yeahhh, I didn’t want to spook you too much after talking about you dying so I may have left that part out. All the nations were remodeled as part of their incorporation into Planeptune, during the absence of the CPUs there was many buildings that had fallen into disrepair and ASIC use. Plus, many ‘nationalists’, AKA secret ASIC sympathizers, were protesting our legal annexation and trying to recruit others to protest and make trouble. Remodeling the former nations along Planeptunian lines was part of our campaign to make everyone in Gamindustri feel that they were truly citizens of Planeptune.”

Nepgear… and everyone really, Blanc most of all, cringed at that. Some of the buildings in the other nations, Lowee especially, were older than everyone in this room, even Histoire! Nepgear herself knew that in the past when one nation conquered another that such things often occurred, but she couldn’t imagine doing such a thing, especially something so drastic, to any of the nations her friends all ruled over! What the goodness had happened!?

_______________

“Still I don’t understand? How could all of you be alive and the Deity of Sin be defeated, especially without Gehaburn? It’s clear you know and have fought her so what is the explanation?!” I was both a bit desperate to change the subject, having clearly accidentally stepped onto another proverbial landmine, but also still really confused! Thankfully, the Histoire of the past was much like my own, (almost) always ready with an explanation!

“Like I thought, Solia is not from our future, but she is from a different dimension altogether, one where the battle against the Deity of Sin took a different, more tragic turn. Even here, we just barely defeated her, and if we were even a few days later in confronting her, I would not be surprised if our own outcome may have been similarly dire.”

“Yes. That would make sense. This would not be the first time we have dealt with travel between dimensions. Plutie still pays me and Nepgear visits now and then after all… And Big Neptune regularly hops between – that’s it!”

I looked at Purple Heart in surprise, she had been so cool and collected (it must be where my big sis got it!) so hearing her get excited was a bit surprising. Also… “What do you mean by… Big Neptune?”

“Well…” And with that Purple Heart shone with the light of detransforming CPU. She looked like… no way, what the fuuu-

“She is like me but taller and” Neptune pointed towards her chest “bustier and has wears black to help differentiate from yours truly! She is from a different dimension, one where our good friend Plutie is CPU instead of her. She has this super cool Nep-Note which allows her to use Croisty’s dimension travelling powers. Once she comes back to visit, she can use that to take you on home. Heck we can all pay your Nepgear a visit too, I bet she could use some cheering up after all!”

Standing in front of me was Purple Heart in human form, who was not only smaller than I certainly had thought she would be, but also looking like a freaking miniature version of the suspected ASIC Agent and oh fuck I attacked Neptune and blew up my ride home.

“Heh… About that. Before I got here, I confronted someone who I suspected to be an ASIC Agent who just so happened to look exactly like the person you just described. She tried to use something that she also called a Nep-Note to portal herself away… which I blew up… And ended up with me getting sent here.”

“Gaghh I knew it couldn’t be that easy! We wouldn’t have a plot if we could just get you home that easily!”

“Neptune can you please transform back so we don’t have to deal with you being meta?” Noire griped. “Besides, if Solia really did destroy the Nep-Note it means that Croire is back out again and all the issues that will entail.”

Neptune… pouted (?) (CPUs can’t pout, can they?) before continuing, “Bah, after Solia gave us that totally downer info-dump we all could use my current cute and charming self to lighten the scene up! Besides, Croire herself is no big deal! She has always been some sort of underling or helper to the main villain, not a real big bad herself.”

“That is… a good point actually. Still, we need to be on the watch for her creating problems and that still leaves the issue of getting Solia home as well, as well as getting the other Neptune back as well.”

“I should be able to call the Histoire from Solia’s dimension, and from there we can arrange for getting her home. Although it may take a while, I can open a portal to Solia’s dimension like I did for the Ultradimension once I manage to get in contact with her Histoire.”

I sighed in relief at that. If there was a method to both call and get myself home, we could tell my big sister I was safe as well as the threat that this Croire presented, if she didn’t expose herself to my big sis’s divine wrath after a. Plus, I am sure that this human version of Neptune will get the attention of my big sister soon enough and could explain everything. Even if I may not have been able to properly identify her, my big sis would certainly be able to, and she would be found soon enough. There was almost no place in Gamindustri we didn’t have eyes on after all. The underlying stress caused by the overall uncertainty of the situation slowly melted away. Still...

“Is there any way I can help get myself home or just help out in general? I don’t want to be rude and just slack.” Especially not in front of my big sister’s big sister! I wouldn’t want to give off the idea that Nepgear didn’t raise me to be a good CPU after all!

Histoire smiled in return “Given I will likely be busy attempting to get communication started with your dimension’s Histoire as well as getting you home, I would be happy to have someone with your initiative help to pick up the extra day to day work I will be unable to do.”

“I also propose we search for this Gehaburn in the meantime. Even if we have beaten the Deity of Sin, a weapon with such properties would be useful to help defeat any future threats that may come up in the future. Though for now, I suggest we all go home for now, this sword can wait, but Leanbox’s problems cannot.”

“If by ‘Leanbox’s problems’, you mean your 4GO clan then yes, but I do agree both on finding this weapon and on getting ourselves home. Rom and Ram should be waking up soon enough and I told them I would be back for lunch by the time they got up.”

Vert did make a good point, I know that Gehaburn certainly made mincemeat out of anything that required my sister to properly dispatch “I don’t know where the sword is precisely, my big sis was always a bit cagey when talking about it, but I will do my best in helping. I certainly know what it looks like though to be fair it is a bit hard to miss.” I look over to Neptune and Nepgear “I-uh presume I will be staying with you guys for the time being?”

Neptune mischievously grinned “Yep! And ohhh man I can’t wait to tell you all the embarrassing stories about Nepgear that I am sure she totally never let you hear! After we eat some pudding of course, and mayyybe take a nap. All this boring plot stuff tires me out.”

“Neptune!”


	6. Chapter 6

Compared to the remodel that Lastation got when it was incorporated as East Planeptune, the difference between the Planeptune of the past and Central Planeptune was far less stark. Really the main difference was the size. Planeptune felt tiny compared to skyline encompassing metropolis it would become, both in the height, and the sprawl department. I smiled as the Planeptower, and thus the Basilicom, drew ever closer. While to most it was a symbol to the power of Planeptune and its goddesses, for me it was simply home and its omnipresent, skyline filling presence (though given the smaller size of the surrounding buildings it managed to seem even more massive) was a welcome one. However, a quick glance to my left at the two CPUs flying next to me was all that was needed to dash the idea that everything would be the same as I knew it once we reached the inside of the Basilicom. Still, given how tired I was from having to use HDD to fight, fly to Lastation, and then fly to Planeptune, any rest would be welcome. I never realized how strenuous it was for the CPUs, even ones as great and hardworking as Neptune and Nepgear, to maintain HDD when they were limited to the shares of a single small nation, even one as superior as Planeptune. Back home I know I could maintain HDD for most of the day without even feeling a thing, and my big sis could keep it up for days on end.

  
  
  
As the three of us landed on the Basilicom platform both Nepgear and Neptune detransformed in a flash of blinding light, with Neptune stretching and letting out a massive and adorable (seriously she was so tiny as a human!) yawn of contentment. I was admittedly a bit surprised that the two of them didn’t wait to walk inside before detransforming, but ultimately, I followed their lead and happily released my hold on HDD. Neptune did seem just a bit more relaxed than my big sis and I always felt that having to transform to go out on the balcony of own dam-darned Basilicom was just a bit ridiculous. It’s not like any humans could see us up here, but ultimately safety above all else was the motto of my big sis.

  
  
///  
  
  
“Finally, we are back home! Man, that was enough work for the entire day, heck the entire week. I am all Nepped out!”  
  
  
“Neptune it is only just past noon and all you did was attend a meeting after having played videogames all morning!”  
  
  
“Come on Histoire, you were there! That meeting was like, super depressing and stuff. Can’t we just have the day off. We may not have done like, a lot of physical labor, but mentally that was an entire quest chain’s worth!”  
  
  
“It would be for the best to rest I think Histoire, besides I am sure Solia is all tired out. She did travel dimensions and get into a fight with an Ancient Dragon afterwards!” My heart swelled at this version of Nepgear still thinking of my wellbeing despite knowing me for less than a day, but subsequently deflated when I realized that the whole endeavor had apparently been taxing enough to get even my workaholic sister to propose taking a whole day off!  
  
  
Histoire pondered (for three seconds to be precise) before speaking “I would be lying if I said the information didn’t shake me, so I can agree to taking the day to recuperate and let Solia get settled in. However!” Her voice raised itself into the tone I affectionately knew as the ‘Nagging Setting’ “You two must get back to work tomorrow, especially since I will be starting to attempt to get in contact with Solia’s dimension.” It was certainly surprising to see Histoire nag about work of all things but given the circumstances it was understandable.  
  
  
“Aww yeah you’re the best Histoire! Alright, time for some fun. Now Nep Jr, can you go grab some delicious pudding while me and Solia will go start up the console for the three of us and I can help get her familiarized with our games and stuff!”  
  
  
“On big sis! I won’t let you down!” With an odd mix of determination and enthusiasm Nepgear departed towards the kitchen to grab our snacks. I watched her depart with curiosity, she didn’t seem to be faking any of it, but this was a younger Nepgear and perhaps I just needed to relearn her tics? Best not to overthink it at the moment. I had learned that if she was at least outwardly fine that digging usually only made it worse.

  
///  
  
  
I entered the living room and… wow. Multiple mushed in bean bags laid on the carpet, with an open bag of chips and Nepbull lazily resting on the sides of one that had the big stylized Planeptune N on it. Consoles rested on the carpet, including those clearly of non-Planeptune make, with a tangled bunch of cords connecting them to the massive large flat screen TV. I recognized the couch and coffee table as the same from my own Basilicom, but rather than the neatly arranged pillows and clear coffee table, the pillows were disheveled, mushed in from clearly having to support the weight of people sitting on it whilst the coffee table had various cups of both drinks and pudding left over. Even after I had gotten my big sister to play videogames with me (when we could both get away from important CPU stuff), this looked far more… not messy but… lived in. Yeah that was it. I can understand why this room reminded big sis of-  
  
  
“Hey Solia, you ok, you are kinda spacing out a bit? Don’t tell me you are gonna be like when Noire first came in here and totally freak out about the mess, we uhhh… kinda got sidetracked by getting called to that meeting, honestly! Heck I even remembered to turn off the console this time! I know Nepgear is more cleanly than little old me, but I didn’t think she would be such a neat freak that you would get judgy or anything!” I looked down at Neptune, whose interjection broke my reverie. A hint of concern painted her visage.  
  
  
“Ah it is nothing Neptune.” Eager to change the subject, I gesture to tangle of consoles on the ground, grinning. “You ready to get your butt kicked Neptune?”  
  
  
She let out a faux gasp, “You think you can beat ME in my domain young’un? Prepare to get Nepped by the master!”  
  
  
If she was anything like my sister, this should be a pretty easy. Big sis wasn’t bad, but constantly working certainly made her rusty in the games she may have played when she was younger and kept her from practicing any new ones.  
  
///  
  
  
I gritted my teeth in concentration, sweaty palms clenching the controller in determination. Neptune was really fu-fricking good! Of all the old games I played with my sis, this one was the one I certainly was the best at and yet I barely was holding on vs Neptune! Crap, I would have to make this a best of three or-  
  
  
“I brought pudding and drinks!”  
  
  
“Ohhhh pudding gimme gimme!”  
  
  
Nepgear came to the room, bring both a tray of food and drinks, but also my victory! For someone so good, Neptune certainly was easily distracted as she was now visibly salivating over the small cups of pudding she was laying onto the table. I moved my character next to Neptune’s now helpless avatar and cackled with glee before knocking her off the stage just as Neptune turned back, face wide in shock.  
  
  
“Awwwwwww no faiiiir! I was distracted! I was totally kicking your butt until you took that cheap shot”  
  
  
My laughter subsiding, I retorted towards this slander against my video gaming honor! “Hey, I also noticed Nepgear coming in, but I didn’t let that distract me from getting the final victory! Doesn’t matter how well you are doing if you slip up in the end.”  
  
  
“Sounds like you two were having fun atleast.” Nepgear now looked at the two of us, giving on of her rare smiles that always warmed my heart. “Though I will admit I am a bit surprised you took so well to the game already Solia, I expected to come in here and she her teaching you the controls, especially with how old this must be to you.”  
  
  
“Well actually I did already know how to play, you taught me after all.”  
  
  
Before Nepgear could even formulate a response, Neptune popped in between us, a pudding cup in both hands  
  
  
“Hold on Nep Jr, protagonist sense is tingling. I am sensing a flashback coming that will totally explain whatever you have to say, thus sparing us from a bunch of talking in three, two, o- “  
  
_____________  
  
  
“Heyyy don’t line break and end the chapter before I can finish being meta! Otherwise I will just insert myself where the author note is gonna be and be even more meta. You can't stop the protagonist!”  
  
  
AN: Oh boy has it been a long time coming! I am sooooooo sorry for it nearly being a month late! Food poisoning knocked me out when I was supposed to be writing and combine that with an essay for Holocaust Studies and my writing schedule was all out of whack! Next chapter should be on time or even sooner as I started it with the intention of it being a part of this chapter, but figured it was different enough that I could and should separate it especially since I haven't updated for so long. Hope you guys understand and once again thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

I hesitantly stood in front of the door, which seemingly loomed in front of me like some great beast. If this was in the bowels of the Basilicom, I would understand my big sister not showing me as there was a bunch of sensitive projects and stuff, but even there she told me what was going on. But this was located in the so called “living space” of the Basilicom, where we CPUs spent most of time on, and yet she never even covered over it. I could ask Histoire as she was always pretty open to questions, but she was busy working with my big sis and it would likely prevent me from exploring if she knew I was curious about it.  
  
  
Well its not like my sister said I COULDN’T go in here. I gently opened the door before quickly scooting in and shutting it. Although the lights were all turned off, the living room (that’s what it looked like, or what I thought a living room looked like from pictures on Geargle and some surveillance footage I have seen) I found myself in was illuminated by the golden glow of afternoon sunlight passing through the massive windows to the outside. Everything was as spotless as the rest of the Basilicom (excepting my rooms and big sis’s workshops of course) but a fine layer of dust could be seen covering all the furniture. If the cleaning Nepgeardam did make their rounds here, it wasn't too often. Looking over at the TV stand an old flat screen sat on top of it, and neatly nestled in below it was a Planeptune home console of veritably ancient design which was resting on some other blocky devices that I had no clue what they were. The hel-heck was this? If anyone was going to be up to date on technology, it would be my sister yet her living room looks like it could be featured in a museum, seriously there was still cords, cords!  
  
  
Still… this was actually super cool! Right before me I had a museum piece console that at least looked to be in perfect working order, even if it was a bit dusty. It would be really interesting to see how this compared to the latest and greatest of Planeptune hardware!  
  
  
“TV on! Television on! Television turn on?” Oh, man don’t tell me this thing doesn’t even have vocal recognition!? Given every piece of hardware is legally mandated have some sort of listening feature for security purposes, you would think the designers would have thought to have used that to implement some simple voice command recognition! Touchscreen or buttons were fine when people were talking or it was just plain noisy, but when it was quiet like this voice was just way too handy.  
  
  
Sure enough, the console was much the same as the TV and only responded to me pressing the little power on button and I sat eagerly on the carpet, praying that the old thing would respond and sure enough the console’s green light flashed on but all I was greeted with was a message drifting across the blank TV screen stating:  
  
  


_Turn on the respective device for this input or switch to the proper input for the device you are using._

Input? Multiple devices? Holy cra-crud this thing really is a relic if it came from a time when there were different pieces of hardware for videogaming, cable, streaming, etc. I didn’t know the exact date but it was like a good sixty to seventy years ago when all differing home devices for the TV were simply bundled into the Planeptune Home Console. How did people deal with such a hassle?! Thankfully, there was no need to fish for the TV’s remote, as the batteries that would have been it were surely dead if this thing was as old as I thought, as I was able to find a button labeled “Input” and after some trial and error I finally got to reach the home screen for the console.  
  
  
I picked up one of the controllers that were resting on top of it and thankfully the cord managed to reach to the couch, which I could definitely tell hadn’t been used for awhile given how stiff it was, and I began scrolling through the home screen. Now where was the Game Library? Ahah! It was must be under the Play Game section. I pressed the button to play and…  
  
  


_No disc found_

A… disk? Ah nuts was the thing really broken and it was missing some sort of disc component? Still, given this was my sister’s I am sure I could find this missing component in the drawers of the TV cabinet. She must have been tinkering with it. I pulled open one of the cabinets and what greets me is both a puff of dust to the face and a rack full of game cases? These must be collector’s editions if it was a physical case rather than simply digital download, though these were kind of small for a collector’s edition case, what the hell would even be in them? No way you can fit any kind of figurines, posters, or other memorabilia inside one of these. Out of curiosity I picked up the case for a game called _Mach The Hedgehog: Cart Racing_. Never knew this guy had his own games at one point, just thought he was some side character in the _Plumber Brothers_ franchise, though given that Planeptune owned all of Gamindustri's intellectual property, crossovers tended to be pretty common. I opened the case and was presented with a physical manual and on the other side a… game disc? Was this what it meant by a disc but that would mean that this was from before my sister became the True Goddess of Gamindustri. One of the first things she did was to outlaw the production of games on discs, cartridges and other physical formats given that was how ASIC managed to pirate them by producing fake and oftentimes hacked replicas. If this thing still has games on physical discs themselves then this thing must be over a hundred years old!  
  
  
“Solia!”  
  
  
“Gyyaghhh!” I leapt from my position and turned around towards the sound of my sister’s voice and sure enough, with arms crossed and looming before me was big sis whose eyes flicked between looking at me resting on the floor and looking at the rest of the room with… nostalgia?  
  
  
“Heya big sis! I thought you were busy working?”  
  
  
“I managed to finish early and you know I check in on you to make sure you are fine even when I am working. You nearly gave me a heart attack when I couldn’t find you in your room!” She sighed, the previous tension on her face melting back into her typical calm before continuing, “Back to my original question, why are you in here Solia?” Yeah… that was the tone when she wasn’t necessarily angry, but definitely didn’t want me to give any silly excuses either.  
  
  
“I uhhh well uhhh. You never said I couldn’t come in here and I was kinda bored, so I came in to check this room out. Is there any particular reason I shouldn’t be in here?”  
  
  
She paused for a for a few seconds before answering, voice tinged in longing, “No its just… me and my older sister, the previous CPU used to play games in here sometimes. And when I became CPU of Gamindustri there was just no reason to use it anymore. You have your own TV and console in your room, so I never really thought to show you in here. I honestly had half forgotten about this room.”  
  
  
Ohh. That would explain why everything was so old. “Ahh in that case I am sorry for disturbing this place and all, I didn’t know and-.”  
  
  
“Stop, there is no need to apologize. You were just curious, and its not like there is anything sensitive in here, other than my old console” A faint smile began to cross her face now “In fact, given that you managed to get the console and TV to work, would you like to play some games together Solia?”  
  
  
I responded instantly, a grin spreading across my face! “Hell yeah!”  
  
  
“For the last time, no cursing!”  
  


///

  
  
“Aggggh nuts not again!” Once the rust wore off my big sis, it was game over for me and I leaned forward and watched as my big sis drifted past me to first place victory on the virtual track displayed on the TV screen in front of me! Even with my as-butt getting kicked harder than I normally thrashed my PVP opponents on the Pocketed Monstrosities MMO, I still was honestly having a lot of fun. Even though the game was clearly old, it clearly was well made and besides, any time spent with my big sis was time well spent!  
  
  
“Ah. I hope I haven’t disheartened you or anything? I am sure with some practice you could beat me. Do you want to watch a movie now? I can have food brought to us.” Nepgear did look more than a bit guilty, wringing her hands rather nervously. Oh goodness I hope she didn’t think I was disheartened or anything!  
  
  
I smiled at her. “Oh, it doesn’t matter given its you who is kicking my butt! I did tell you to not go easy on me. Still I will take up your offer on watching the movie. My ego has taken enough of a bruising today, even if you would obviously be better.”  
  
  


///

  
I purred in contentment as I laid sprawled across the couch, head laying on my sister’s thighs as her hands gently stroked my hair, undone from the buns I normally kept them in. Currently we were watching an old Captain Planeptune movie, the first in fact, on the DVD player (that was what that one device below the console was!). However, as I felt my eyes fluttering I knew I probably wouldn’t be watching too much longer, as the soft pillow of my big sister’s thighs and the now dark room, the afternoon having given way to twilight, was just too much and I felt myself… slowly… drifting… away…  
  
  


///

  
  
“Solia, come on, let’s get ourselves properly into bed now.”  
  
  
“Mmmmfgggh.” My sleep was ever so cruelly interrupted as my head was gently lifted off my makeshift pillow and I waved my limbs around in groggy discomfort.  
  
  
“Neeeepgggeeear!”  
  
  
She giggled just a bit before fully standing up, shaking her slightly stiff legs awake before she leaned down and I felt her warm arms wrapped around me and lifting me up and off the couch, carrying me towards my room.  
  
  
“We have work tomorrow, but don’t worry, we can do this again when I have free time again.  
  
  
I smiled at that before sleepily replying “That sounds good, but… I’ll kick your butt next time we play together. You can bet on that.” I curled back up after that, trying in vain to remain nestled in her arms, even though I was nearly as tall as her.  
  
  
Now tucking me under the fluffy covers in my bed, even with only the dim light coming from the hallway illuminating my room I could still see the faint smile she gave as finished tucking me in. She gave one last soft reply before she left me to fall back asleep.  
  
  
“I’ll be counting on it little sister. Sleep well.”  
  
  


///

AN: And back on schedule is the first flashback sequence! This scene was definitely one of the ones I have been planning for awhile and I definitely feel pretty good about this one. As always, comments and criticism are welcome!


	8. Chapter 8

It hadn’t been too long after we had had dinner that I decided to call in for the night. While hanging out with Neptune and my sister was fun, but not even accounting for the time differences between our dimensions I had already had a busy day today and had to be ready to do important goddess stuff tomorrow! Without Histoire, Neptune and Nepgear would be counting on me to help them manage Planeptune and I had to be ready for it.

“And here is the guest room where you will be sleeping for the time being. There are some clothes in the closet for you in the morning. I hope you don’t mind wearing mine until we can go shopping for something for you to wear given we are similar sizes. I-if there is anything wrong please let me know.”

It flashed a grin at my sister. “The room is fine don’t worry about it. I am just happy to know that apparently you started at the same size as me! Means there is still hope for me yet to achieve the statuesque figure that you ha-uh will have...”

Nepgear stared at me for a few seconds before her eyes widened in surprise. “Wait you mean I actually grew bigger? Even uh... up here?” She gestured towards her chest with wild, wavy hand gestures.

“Oh yeah! I mean, you never got to the ridiculous size of Lady Vert’s bazoongas, but those are over sized anyways. The perfect figure for a perfect goddess is what you received!” I beamed happily.

She flushed and a small grin flitted across her face in response to my words. “Oh, there is no need to over-exaggerate. I would like to think I am good at my job but I’ll never be perfect at it.”

Hah! I may be some differences between the older and younger versions of my sister, but they both certainly undervalued their own amazingness when I pointed out how cool they were.

“I would show you one of the pictures we took together tonight, but sadly my Smart Gear is due for its monthly charge.” I respond glumly, flashing the wrist device at Nepgear to show her. Dam-dang my laziness and falling asleep with it on. However, whatever response I was expecting, it certainly wasn’t for her eyes to practically sparkle as they hungrily followed the device.

“If you don’t mind Solia I was actually meaning to ask you about what that was on your wrist. Oh I would love to take a look and see how far smart watches, heck technology as a whole has gone in over one hundred years! Could you show me tomorrow? Can I look at the internals in my workshop?!” She gesticulated wildly, fluffy hair bouncing around vibrantly as she got more and more excited until she was practically humming with excitement.

I’ll admit that this did throw me off just a bit. Sure, I knew my sister in this dimension was just a bit more relaxed due to not having to be the Supreme Ruler of Everything and working on tech had always excited her but this was still more than a bit freaky! “Uhh yeah totally, I am sure we have time after we are done working tomorrow. Even if Histoire will be busy trying to get me home, I am sure that with three Planeptune CPU dream team on the job we will get this shi-stuff done in no time!”

Nepgear (confusingly) deflated with that remark, though I will admit I was a bit glad she wasn’t so… hyper anymore. “Y-yeah, it will totally be done quickly and stuff. Me and Neptune work very hard! Anyways sleep well Solia, I know it can be difficult to sleep in a new bed at times.”

I smiled and enveloped her in a hug “Planeptune is always my home sis so no need to worry, you sleep well too, no getting nightmares okay?” Something flashed across her face quickly before it morphed into a smile and she reciprocated the hug, giving me a sisterly squeeze before she pulled away and left.

As I started tucking myself into bed I frowned as I thought back to home, as while I can imagine Neptune would give this dimension’s Nepgear sisterly comfort whenever the nightmares got really bad, it was my job back home and now I am a whole dimension away… But I can’t let that impede me! I need to be all rested so I can be ready to help and fill in for Histoire while she contacts home, and then I can be back with my big sis and then both Nepgear’s can hang out and I can reunite my big sis with her big sis. Yeah, the reunion will totally make my absence worth it, and with those happy thoughts on my groggy mind, sleep came to me in a flash.

///

“Ohhhh goodness big sis we are in such a pickle!” Nepgear had practically ran back to her big sister as soon as she was out of Solia and was now shaking her big sister in a mix of panic and in an effort to hopefully get her to take this situation seriously!

Neptune put her hands on Nepgear’s shoulders, both to gently comfort her little sister but also to stop the shaking so her brain wouldn’t be too rattled to provide a cognizant response.“Wooh there Nep Junior, slow down and please explain what this ‘situation’ is because last I saw it you were taking our dimensionally displaced relative to bed, man that is weird, is this what Plutie felt like when she had us over at the start?”

Steadying her breathing just a bit, and having let go of her elder sister, she continued. “The situation is that Solia practrically worships us!”

Shrugging casually, Neptune replied “I don’t know, she seemed pretty casual with us and was willing to throw down and play videogames with us.” Playfully poking her sister on the nose, she continued “Seems to me what you are dealing with Nep Junior is just standard little sister admiration, which is something I personally have quite a bit of experience in handling if I do say so myself.”

“Neptune, she called me called me ‘perfect’ earlier and thinks we can get a day’s work done without Histoire and have time to spare to tinker in my workshop.”

Her skin starting to blanch, Neptune shakily responded. “Uhhh can you clarify on that last bit Nepgear, because if she is your sister, she almost certainly knows you spend like all day playing around in there right?”

“Yes Neptune, she thinks you are a hard worker, and not… you. No offence sis, but she only seems to know of you as a figure from the history books and me as practically the True Goddess returned so it may be a bit of surprise for her when she finds out we are just… us.”

Neptune’s knees began to wobble, and the CPU of Planeptune fell back onto the soft carpet of the Basilicom in despair. Either she would have to break this unfathomable, ridiculous, overblown conception that Solia had of her AND deal with Histy going all Pissty on her tush, or… WORK. Facing down the Deity of Sin, Rei, Kurome, and the various other villains that the plot provided was one thing, but an indeterminate amount of time of work without Histoire, and having to keep Solia in the dark about disastrous allergy to work was a far more daunting (and boring!) task.

With renewed hope however, Neptune began to rise from the floor. “I think I have a pla-.”

"And don't think you can just pawn your share of the work off onto me like you did back at Plutia's Neptune!"

And with that pinprick to her ballooning spirit Neptune deflated to the floor, defeated once again. "Yep, I'm doomed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Bet you didn't expect to see an update for this and I am suuuuuuper sorry about that! Between finals screwing my schedule up, preparing for/raising money for a study abroad trip to Russia (that got cancelled due to COVID), getting more into mil sims, and a bad case of writers block (it was hard trying to find a good tone for the scene) I found myself excited to work on this story again and finally got writing. Feedback is SUPER appreciated and helps me better myself and motivate me to write more!


	9. Chapter 9

Whatever sleep that had fogged my brain after I had woken up fled as the little alarm clock perched beside my bed, in cutesy pink colors, told me that it was 6:03. I was over an hour late getting up, and while I was sure they wouldn’t say anything of it, I couldn’t have Neptune or Nepgear think I was lazy or anything.  
  
  
After quickly dressing myself and totally not accidentally getting lost, I finally reached Nepgear’s, no, it would be Neptune’s office and yanked open the door to a rather surprised looking Histoire. Crap they must have left the Basilicom already to do important CPU stuff!  
  
  
“I am so sorry for being late Histoire!” I blurted out before catching my breath from the miniature sprint I had through the Basilicom.  
  
  
Rather than any sort of frustration or that stare of smoldering disappointment that only my big sister could outclass, Histoire instead looked pleasantly surprised, with a smile lighting up her small face.  
  
  
“Don’t worry about it. The other two are still fast asleep actually. Could you go get them up for me while I finish up this up? Make sure to get Nepgear up first, as Neptune usually needs two people to drag her out of bed.”  
  
  
“O-oh, ok Histoire!” I responded, throwing up a cheeky salute and marched off towards my destination. Did Nepgear have nightmares again perhaps? That would explain the two sleeping in since Neptune would likely be in bed with her in that case. But as I entered the room there was just Nepgear, hugging a fuzzy pink pillow and snoring softly. She looked so peaceful and dare I say… cute? That was never something I would have ever described my sister as until now. Majestic, amazing, perfect, or badass? Sure. But not cute. I guess being adorable was universal to all CPU Candidates, even big sis of all people.  
  
  
I honestly felt pretty bad about waking her up like this, especially given how much of a restless sleeper she normally was, but we had to get to work. After taking a quick pic with my Smart Gear (I had to show this to my Nepgear when I got home), I gently started gently nudging her, softly calling out her name. I didn’t want to wake her up harshly afterall. It took a few tries but eventually after some grumbling and tossing and turning her eyes fluttered open, looking at me with a mixture of grogginess and confusion.  
  
  
“Solia?” She yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  
  
  
“Yep. We all overslept this morning and its time to get working.” I smirked before continuing. “Back home our positions would be reversed, I can’t tell the number of times you had to drag me from bed.”  
  
  
“But its only- never mind. Is Neptune up?”  
  
  
I shake my head no. “Histoire told me something about her taking two people to force awake so I came and got you first.”  
  
  
Nepgear pulled herself off the bed, stretching her arms and yawning again. “Let me get dressed and I can get her up. Getting Neptune up requires special expertise.”  
  
  


///

  
  
Neptune looked at the vast mountain of pudding that occupied her dreamscape. “And this is all for me!?” In front of her stood an older looking Nepgear who beamed at her.  
  
  
_“Neptune wake up!” _The walls of her dreamscape wobbled a bit, but Neptune ignored and continued to listen to Nepgear’s response.  
  
  
“Yes, I have continued saving cups of pudding for you since the day you passed, and as my thanks for returning my Solia to me you shall have them all. You have done so much hard work and need a suitable reward and break to enjoy.”  
  
  
_“Uhh sis, you are sure this is the best idea? It seems kind of… violent?”  
  
  
“Trust me, this is the only way to get her up… Here goes nothing!”_  
  
The dreamscape shuddered, but all that did was wobble the pudding behemoth in front of her and make it even more delectable looking. “Time to dig in!”  
  
  
_“Super Gear Hug Raaaaaahhhhh!”_  
  
  
But as Neptune leaped forward, hands ready to stuff delectable goodness into her mouth, the pudding burst apart, and the rest of the dream tore itself to sunders as her Nepgear leaped onto her, violently waking her up and crushing her in a massive, sisterly hug.  
  
  
“Nep Junior… Whyyyy.”  
  
  
“Because big sis.” She smiled widely, though the sleepiness that permeated her eyes painted a different picture. “Solia thankfully managed to get us up since we slept in for over an hour now. Remember what we talked about last night?”  
  
  
Neptune simply whimpered. “All that dream pudding… gone like the wind from my poor little lungs after you crushed me. with that hug.”  
  
  


///

  
I internally sighed as I looked at the load of work in front of me. Breakfast was over and now came the boring part of being a CPU. It’s not like I was unfamiliar with the day to day administrative doldrum that was key to running all of Planeptune. While most everything was automated or delegated, my big sis always was a little worried of ASIC infiltration or hacking, so we occasionally reviewed things to make sure everything was running smoothly, especially back when I was stuck in the Basilicom for the year or so after my ‘birth.’ Still, I would have preferred desk work that was bit more entertaining like surveillance. Seeing what humans did in their own homes when they thought no one was looking never stopped being interesting or funny.  
  
  
Instead however, I was simply checking production numbers of games and seeing how much reached the stores. Dull work, but important in making sure that nothing got stolen and redistributed. ASIC and their sympathizers getting their hands-on games before they shipped was one of their more devious and nefarious tricks to getting supporters, as people couldn’t help themselves when it came to getting a new game even a week later. Besides, I had to make a good impression for everyone and take Histoire’s place while she contacted home. Both my sisters were counting on me, and I steeled my resolve for the long, hand cramp inducing struggle that was to come.  
  
  


///

_In Another Dimension._   


The True Goddess of Gamindustri, looked upon all her domain… and cried tears of frustration, for her sister was to be found nowhere in it. But as much as she wanted to lash out, she had to keep calm for the sake of her sister. This certainly had not been the first time Solia had run off somewhere without Nepgear’s knowledge. It would not even be the first time her sister managed to get herself into mortal danger. However, Solia never managed to simply… disappear like this. While Nepgear had long given up on consistently tracking her sister’s Smart Gear given how her software savvy sister always managed to find a way to remove or evade whatever she tracked her with. Whether it simply be to the constant reprogramming and tinkering she did to the device. or due to actual intent Nepgear did not know. But in an emergency, she would usually be able to develop a new way to track her or simply brute force it. Combined with martial law, satellite imagery, and constant Nepgeardam sweeps Solia should have been found already, but so far nothing had come up. It was as if Solia had disappeared off the face of the planet.  
  
  
While she had no idea of what happened, she knew of only one culprit that would do such a thing. The Deity of Sin and her lackeys that were in ASIC. While Arfoire herself may be gone for now, ASIC and their sympathizers had been a consistent thorn in her side since the day she became CPU. While others did not see it, thinking ASIC to be long dead, Nepgear knew otherwise. She remembered the words of the Deity of Sin as if she was standing back before the dying beast. That Arfoire would return once things had started stagnating, once Gamindustri became complacent again. She tightened her grip on Gehaburn as she thought more of it. She wished she could be optimistic and believe that the Deity of Sin had gotten impatient, but in her heart she knew that some sort of invisible rot must have set in among the populace, and once she got her sister back she would thoroughly and personally clean house.  
  
  
So deep in her ruminations, she almost didn’t notice _something _appear right behind her and with a quick flourish she spun the cursed sword around, the glowing blade pointed at the head of the very tiny figure that was now hovering in front of her.  
  
  
“Who are you and what are you doing in MY Basilicom?”  
  
  
“My name is Croire and I have information on your sister, so can you take that thing and pull it away from my face!?” Her eyes were nervously flashing towards the glowing tip of Gehaburn that was only inches away from impaling her.  
  
  
After a few seconds of hesitation, Nepgear pulled the sword away, though she did not bother to desummon it. If this was some sort of ploy by the Deity of Sin, she wanted to be ready.  
  
  
“Explain now.”  
  
  
“Well, I am Croire as I previously mentioned, and my job is to record all the interesting and dark bits of history from every Gamindustri, including yours. Yeah that’s right, Gamindustri plural. While my boring goody two shoes counterpart Histoire has a different version for every dimension, I am the one and only since I get to travel between dimensions to do my work.” Her tone had morphed into a self-confident braggishness as soon as Nepgear pulled away the sword, and her face went from nervousness to a playful smirk.  
  
  
“While I am pleased to learn that my theories on the multiverse were correct, I fail to see HOW this relates to the Deity of Sin or my dear sister’s disappearance, and why I should even trust your claims.”  
  
  
“Cripes you would think the ‘True Goddess of Gamidustri would be a little more patient after all these years.” An icy stare from Nepgear veered her back on course. “Anyways, you want proof about my job. Well take a looksie at this.” Opening the palm of her hand, an illusion, no, a memory she was all too familiar with, one that haunted Nepgear’s dreams for decades on end unfurled in front of her eyes.  
  
  
_“Haaaaaaaah!”  
  
  
“Yeeeeouch! Whoa, yeah… Way worse than a wasp sting…”  
  
  
“Neptune!”  
  
  
“Okay, time for me to hit the ol’ dusty trail Nep Junior… Lets win… together!”_  
  
  
  
Croire simply chuckled “Man I will admit, I have seen a lot of crazy things, but seeing you lot murder each other was the absolute wildest shit I have ever seen!”  
  
  
  
One trembling hand squeezed Gehaburn, while the other clenched onto the faded sleeve of Neptune’s coat that she constantly wore as her capelet, and Nepgear slowly blinked away fresh tears.  
  
  
After a few minutes she finally managed to regain her composure. Her voice a low whisper, teeth gritted, she finally responded. “You have made your point.”  
  
  
“Good. Now lemme explain properly. the Deity of Sin is also a singular entity like me, and has munched on countless different dimension’s Gamindustri’s, and it’s in one of these dimensions that she snatched up Solia from your place. Now before you ask, your sister aint dead and is actually doing just fine. The entire place is an elaborate illusion designed to look just like everything was before you went all stabby on the CPUs, except with the fiction that they managed to beat the Deity of Sin without your super sword. Seems like the Deity of Sin wants to lure you out to this dimension, where being off home turf and seeing all this fake stuff would be enough to take you down.  
  
  
Yes… That would make sense. The Deity of Sin had always been a cunning beast, and while Nepgear never knew the beast would go to such lengths, it all made perfect sense. She would either lure Nepgear into a false reality that would weaken her resolve. And if Solia spent enough time in this false world it could cause Solia to believe the measures Nepgear used to keep ASIC down were unnecessary, especially if the true nature of what really happened to the CPUs was revealed, especially if she was unable to cause her to realize it was all an illusion.  
  
  
“You would take me to this dimension, and help me get my sister back?”  
  
  
“Yep, I can do it right now actually! I won’t have much of a job to do if the Deity of Sin turns every world to a lifeless husk after all. No history to record whatsoever makes things hella boring.”  
  
  
It was tempting… But Nepgear knew she just could not rush into this without a plan. The Deity of Sin was trying to drag her away from Gamindustri in order to defeat her, and while she knew roughly what she was plotting, Nepgear knew she had to properly prepare in order to save Gamindustri and get Solia back. She couldn’t, no, she _wouldn’t_ let herself fail Solia like she failed Neptune and everyone else! She would save Solia, and Gamindustri from the Deity of Sin, and destroy Arfoire and her twisted followers once and for all!  
  
  


///

  
  
As she watched Nepgear, now Lilac Heart, soar off to ‘get things in order’, Croire let out a sigh of relief. Bullshitting the paranoid loon had certainly been a challenge, especially when it seemed like the crazy bitch would kill her with that sword, but man of man was the payoff fucking worth it! Getting her to kill the CPUs that had constantly thwarted Croire was already good enough. Seeing the look on her face when Miss Tyrant realized she had been chasing ghosts and shanked her friends all over again before hopping dimensions and leaving her stuck there? It would be Croire’s finest bit of havoc. Messing up two dimensions for minimal effort. It was certainly a great way to get kick off her freedom from being stuck with Neptune that was for sure.  
  
  
Sure, she had to wait while Lilac Heart finished off whatever ridiculous plan she thought was necessary to beat the totally not dead Deity of Sin, but Croire had been stuck in that Nepnote for ages, unable to even stretch her stiff little limbs a bit, she wait just a bit longer to let her masterwork play out and for her to FINALLY get revenge on those bitches…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The plot thickens! For these next couple chapters I have certainly gotten down all the scenes I wanted, but my main issue has been in what order a lot of them should be in! I got some people wishing to see a bit more plot for example, which is why I decided to include that last scene a bit early. I hope everyone is doing well and safe, as down here in Florida we certainly aren't. Always appreciate comments and reviews!


	10. Chapter 10

While yesterday was mostly droll administrative duties, with Neptune, Nepgear, and me so fried that we all went to bed after a rather quiet dinner, looking down on the greenery below as me and Purple Heart soared through the sky, today was already looking to be much better. While Nepgear and Uni were clearing up a rather sizable monster horde that had started accumulating on the Planeptune-Lastation border, me and Neptune were on our way to respond to reports of a massive sinkhole opening up near a town, opening up to a yet unknown cave system. And underground caves almost ALWAYS meant beasts lurking within them.

“Someone looks excited.” Purple Heart remarked, a smile lighting up her beautiful face, her braided hair whipping through the wind.

“Well yeah, this is fu-freaking awesome! Not only do I get out to do a quest, but it’s a real deal monster slaying emergency, and I get to fight alongside the legendary Purple Heart!"

“Just remember that the objective is to protect civilians first, and then clear out any monsters afterwards.” She gently chided before adding. “However, I am sure you will do just fine.”

I nodded in affirmation. “Don’t worry, the rare times the situation was actually serious when me and my sister were out, I usually got put on backline duty while she took care of it, though even when I did fight with her she did most of the work...”

“So what did you two normally do then? I remember hearing that most of your Gamindustri’s monsters were taken care of by your sister’s Nepgeardam, and I can’t imagine you sat inside most of the time. Noire and Uni both said you did quite well in combat back when you first arrived.”

“They seriously said that. I mean like my big sis made sure to put me through a bunch of training so I could kick butt and I have fought monsters before… But anyways your question, yeah!” I replied, still flushing from the praise. “Me and big sis tended to go out and do a lot of show the proverbial flag so to speak. Arrests, killing stray monsters, rescuing cats from trees, that kind of thing. Most of the stuff we do outside could be done by Nepgeardam or other personnel, but humans seeing that we are the ones keeping the lights on and remind them of who is in charge after all.”

A flash of concern crossed over Purple Heart’s face before it smoothed back out to her friendly smile.

“Oh, don’t worry, I know it sounds boring, and some of it is, but I’ll admit I do love putting on a good show for everyone, especially when its something like having to visit a project that is lagging behind and give them some… encouragement.” I smirked at the thought. It was rare, but was it a fun job to do.

“What do you mean by that?”

I cleared my throat, my face hardened, and I readied my full-on ‘I Am Your Goddess And You Shall Listen to Me!’ mode before continuing. “I don’t know why this game has been delayed for so long, but this is absolutely unacceptable! If the pace does not start picking up here, I might even start even suspecting some sort of ASIC presence here, and you know what that means.” I couldn’t continue as I broke out into giggles.

“Oh, when I broke that one out you should have seen the look on the director’s face! It was paler than the snow in Northern Planeptune. Doesn’t beat the time big sis made someone shi-crap themselves.” I chuckled some more, though it died down as I looked at the frown on Purple Heart’s face.

“Did I say something?” I asked in concern.

She responded tersely. “Ah, no, I am just thinking about… the quest, yes. We are starting to near our destination and I am worried about townspeople, that is all.”

I nodded in affirmation, understanding the need for seriousness. While Neptune seemed just a bit laxer than my sister, I could still see the same severity when something needed to be done. The rest of the journey proved to be quiet. Eventually the town came into view, and I was rather shocked by how quaint it was. With how high tech the capital was here, and the fact that back in my dimension even small villages were just as modern, I had kinda presumed it would be similar. Instead we had something that looked like it was out of some sort of fantasy game or from one of the other nations before they had unified with Planeptune. That wasn’t all, as the massive sinkhole that had formed was easily visible from the air, a black chasm that devoured fields of crops and was deep enough that we could only just barely see the rubble that made up the floor of the monstrosity.

The two of us both descended and were quickly greeted by a crowd of villagers who waved us down, no doubt excited to see that help had arrived in the form of their goddess. A rather rotund and old looking man with quite the mustache stepped forward, doing a hasty bow before speaking to us.

“Thank you Lady Purpleheart and…?” He stuttered in confusion for a few seconds before I filled in for him

“It's Lady Lilac Sister citizen. I am a visiting CPU.” When I had asked about how they would present me to the public, Neptune simply said that people were used to “the ole CPU from another Planeptune plot element by now!” (Whatever that meant) .

“Yes, thank you both for coming to the aid of Green Hills! While no monsters have made it to the surface, yet you must hurry! While this sinkhole formed away from most of the village, the Oohshima family’s house slid down into it and we haven’t seen the parents or their daughter since!”

“Just make sure you keep everyone away from the sinkhole like you have been doing and prepare any sort of medical response you can muster. You can count on us to get them out alive.” Purple Heart replied, giving him a reassuring smile before the two of us flew off.

///

“Solia, give me a hand, I found one of them!”

I looked over to where Purple Heart was digging (and wondering why she used my real name) seeing the unconscious form of a middle-aged man buried underneath the mixture of dirt and rubble from the house they had been living in. I briskly walked over and began helping pull off the wooden planks that trapped him, taking care as to avoid accidentally shifting anymore debris onto him. Gently lifting him out, we could thankfully see that there were no injuries that were immediately life threatening, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some sort of concussion from this.

Looking back towards me, both arms cradling the unconscious civilian Purple Heart said, “I’ll take him up top, you keep digging in the-” Her eyes widened in panic. “Look out!”

I turned around, only to come face to face with the fist of an angry Earth Golem

“Shit!” Was all I could manage before fist met face and I flew backwards, just barely managing to catch my footing and slide to a stop. I shook stars out of my eyes and grimaced, summoning my weapons.

“Solia are you okay!” Purple Heart asked, concern clearly showing over the blow I took.

“Just get him to safety and keep on digging! I will keep them off you!” I shouted before I turned towards the Golem, who was now accompanied by more beastly compatriots. Not only would this prove myself to Neptune, but also show how well my sister did in teaching me, so I couldn’t let either of them down.

“It will take more than simple trash mobs to take down the sister of the True Goddess of Gamindustri! Come at me foul beasts and taste feel the awesome power Planeptunian superiority!” I brandished my swords, grinning at the prospect of the fight, before leaping into the fray.

  


///

Purple Heart looked up, seeing Solia quickly dash in with her gun-blades, before kiting away from the horde with energy blasts. No matter how many times she asked the younger CPU if they needed to trade positions, she was brushed off with assurances that she was fine, and if there was any sign of tiring it was buried beneath the bombastic cheers about hope, justice, and the ‘Planeptunian way.’

Turning back to the task ahead, Purple Heart grunted as she wrapped her arms around a particularly large piece of stone rubble, slowly lifting it up before tossing it gently to the side. While she had found the mother soon after she had uncovered her husband, their child was still down here somewhere, and while the odds were looking increasingly grim every passing minute she went unfound, Purple Heart still held onto hope. She had faced far worse odds and came out the victor, and she owed it to these humble people who had their faith in her to repay it in kind. As Purple Heart caught a flash of blue hair in the rubble, as if her prayers were being answered, she couldn’t help but smile.

///

I grimaced as I sliced through an enraged Fenrir, before flying backwards to avoid a blow from a Dragon Knight, which I blasted with my M.P.B.L Mark Two and smiled as I watched it vaporize into nothing. Thankfully the horde seemed to have mostly thinned out, as while I wasn’t in any danger of detransforming, I could definitely feel the flow of Shares had gotten more strained than I had ever been used to.

“Solia, I found the last survivor, but she needs medical treatment!” I looked over to Purple Heart, who was gently cradling a small blue haired girl whose shirt was stained with blood. “I have some healing abilities. Nothing major but should be good enough for her.” I replied.

Purple Heart nodded back in affirmation. “Good. You take her up to the surface and heal her while I go and seal this tunnel and deal with any trash mobs that may have escaped you.”

As she gently handed me the child she remarked. “Thank you for keeping them off of me Solia, I couldn’t have saved everyone without you today.” I felt my insides go a bit mushy from the praise for a brief second before refocusing myself, giving Purple Heart a smile as I flew outside the sinkhole.

  
///

I grimaced as I looked down on the sleeping forms of the Ooshima family, pulling my hand away as I finished the last of my healing, tightening my grip on my transformation. While the only ones currently in this house turned make-shift clinic were the sleeping family and myself, I didn’t know when the actual medical personnel would arrive. While my healing was good, it couldn’t fix dehydration and blood-loss, which is what the actual medical personnel were for.

I heard the door open, and saw Purple Heart stride in, looking tired but also triumphant as she flashed her dazzling smile upon seeing me.

“I presume they are all good.”

I gave her a thumbs up. “Yep. Saved the kid and took care of the breaks and bruises on her parents. I presume proper medical assistance is on the way?”

She nodded in affirmation, before looking over to the bed and walking over to the girl, who (surprisingly) was waking up. She knelt down next to the bed, gently clasping the hand of the rapidly awakening girl, who was clearly starting to panic. Then she... detransformed!?

What

The

Shit.

///

“Hey, hey its gonna be alright kid. Emi, right?” Neptune grinned softly at the girl whose hand she now gently clasped in comfort. She could slowly see sleepiness give way to growing panic as Emi started to remember what had just happened to her family

“L-lady Neptune?” The girl, Emi apparently (I had forgotten their names), asked in growing surprise. “A-are my mom and dad-.”

“Don’t worry kiddo, your mom and dad are just taking a nap in here with you. All three of you took some nasty bruises and scrapes but Solia here.” She pointed over to the direction of the CPU Candidate. “Fixed you guys all up lickety split. All you three need is some rest and the all clear from the doctors and you will be good to go!”

Emi let out a shudder of relief upon hearing that before being enveloped into a hug by Neptune, which she gladly accepted, and the two held onto one another until Emi finally drifted off to sleep again, at which point Neptune carefully released her and tucked her back in. While Neptune loathed most forms of work, it was moments like these, where she could see the smiling faces of the people who she had been able to help as CPU that made the boring paperwork, world-ending threats, and worst of all, Histy’s lectures, all worth it.

As Neptune left the bedside, she felt Solia’s hand gently grasp on her shoulder. “What is it Nep Junior Squared?” She asked the Candidate, noticing the look of concern plastered across her face.

  
  
"Nep Junior what?” She sputtered before continuing on “Why did you transform out of HDD in front of the girl?”  
  
  


“Wellll I thought my moe form would be way better when it came to giving hugs and comfort. I am rated cutest and most adorable Goddess by my fan club after all!” She responded.

However, this didn’t seem to answer Solia’s question at all, in fact, her face screwed up in surprise and shock even moreso. Neptune’s protagonist powers were starting to tell her this was supposed to be a scene where some bit of information is revealed due to miscommunication and the assumption the other knew it!

“Neptune, I know for a fact that Planeptune hasn’t developed mind wiping technology at this point in time so there is no way for you to just brainpan her to make her forget about the whole transforming into a normal human form thing, so why did you... Wait, you mentioned” She fumed before she slowly came to her own realization. “Do the citizens KNOW the Goddesses have human forms, and you guys are just... ok with that?”

“Uhhhh yes? I mean most people know and think of us in our transformed states, but this ain't exactly super duper top secret stuff Solia. Are you saying that you and your Nep Junior have some big secret conspiracy to hide that kinda major fact up?” Neptune responded.

“I mean I know my big sis can get a bit annoying with it sometimes, especially since we can just erase people’s memories now, but it is kind of an important thing to hide? As Kei told me all those years ago, ‘it's important to retain the constant image of the CPUs as invincible and infallible to citizenry and ultimately above them in every single way so as to keep a high rate of shares and to stave off any sort of mass abandonment that crippled the CPUs during the ASIC crisis.’ As much as a hardas-” Solia coughed as she caught herself. “stick in the mud Kei can be as a teacher, there is a good reason she tried to drill it in my head...” Solia replied matter of factly.

“Lets just say our relationship with the people of Gamindustri tends to be more... relaxed? Friendly? In my not so humble opinion, people would be way more cool with a Goddess they could relate to and sit down and play videogames with rather than some scary deity who they hardly know about. Besides, if we allow people to be totally open with us, we can learn what people like and get more shares that way. Like, one time I switched to wearing a jersey dress for a bit, but then everyone was like ‘Noooo Neptune you look waaay cuter in your parka.’ so I switched back.” Neptune said. That last half was practically just one of many of Histoire’s rants but transcribed into Nep speak. Finally, Pissty’s lectures on how to be a CPU came in handy!

“And no angry ASIC sympathizing traitors have tried to kill you or anything?” Solia asked, clearly surprised by Neptune’s rather lackadaisical answer to the whole thing.

Neptune shook her head. “Nope. Unless you count the occasional trolls on the internet committing character assassination on me. Can you believe they called me lazy?!”

Solia laughed sadly at that one. “Yeah, I know exactly the type of bullshit people will say on the internet when they think no one is watching them...”

Neptune sighed, wishing she had stuck around as Purple Heart to avoid this conversation or at least have the mental fortitude to deal with it. While the reverent way she looked at Neptune and Nepgear was problem enough, the way Solia talked about her and her Nepgear’s relationship with their citizens had only reignited the burning feeling of concern that had started back when she had talked about how apparently terrifying people was part of the job description for being a CPU. She couldn’t help but worry about what exactly happened to Nepgear and Gamindustri for this to seem so normal...

But not now. Neptune’s brain was fried, her daily allotted amount of seriousness was running out, and this was a most likely plot advancing dialogue chain that should happen in the Basilicom with Nepgear and Histoire to help her out, not in the room of a sleeping family when they still had a relief effort to coordinate and help out with.

///

I yawned as I sat in front of the computer that was in the guest room I had been staying in, the painfully bright screen illuminating the otherwise pitch-black room. The relief effort and the flight back to the Basilicom had left us totally wiped out, so after a quick pizza dinner me and Neptune had called it quits for the night, but before I went to bed there was one last thing I wanted to do and I quickly tapped in the names of the various Goddess into the search engines and fired away.

I wanted to see what people said about all the CPUs. Neptune had basically said there was nothing preventing people from speaking their minds about the CPUs, even on sites located within Gamindustri, and I knew there was no Great Gamindustri Firewall blocking out stuff from the PC Continent in this dimension (though with the amount of useful idiots who supported pirating there should be!).

Looking through the various discussion boards, forums, and news sites what people said about the Goddesses was... surprisingly not bad? A lot of rather friendly praise, and a lot of ridiculous fluff about how the Goddesses were “cute”, “hot”, or even “waifus”, though I frowned when I saw that last one being used to describe my precious sister. Like some internet degenerate would have a chance with my perfect sister! A bunch of rather amusing arguments and pieces about who was the best goddess which I mostly ignored. Anyone with half a brain would obviously support big sis so there was no need to look through that.

Even the negative stuff seemed... reasonable, though every bone in my body shuddered at the thought of any criticism of CPUs by humans being warranted! A lot of it was like Neptune had said, suggestions and requests. Mindless knuckle dragging trolls tended to get criticized and hounded by the loyal worshipers of whatever CPU they had deigned to insult, though there seemed to be some sort of dumb meme about Neptune being lazy that was rather prevalent. Still, nothing like the horrid rumors and propaganda I saw back home on sites outside the Great Firewall, or from people within it who somehow (briefly) evaded our sight. Soulless ASIC sympathizing monsters, spreading lies that my sister had, that my sister had k-....

I shuddered and closed my eyes, taking a few breaths to calm myself down, letting go of the computer mouse I had an iron grip on and grabbing a plush D-Pad from the bed to squeeze. Let's look at something positive Solia, N-Chan was always a fun and wholesome site back in my dimension after all!

///

I looked at the screen in horror at the pixels that spelled out the cursed, unholy, sentence in front of me. I had been browsing N-Chan, when I came across a board that had been labeled as the “CPU Lewds Board.” I steadied myself and prepared to head into the breach, to confirm that such unholy content existed... And I was not prepared. There was a thread for “sexy” photos of us in HDD! A thread for pictures of CPUs spanking one another! A thread for Neptune and Nepgear-!

“Agghhh!” I screamed out in horror! It felt like I was the ASIC villains in the Ohio James film after they had opened the True Goddess Game Cabinet and got their faces melted off for it! This... this was heretical nonsense of the utmost kind and had to be removed! This definitely didn’t fall under reasonable content in any way Neptune could have been referring to!

All pretenses of sleep gone as I now had my new mission and dug out my Smart Gear. While I never had been as good as big sis when it came to the realm of hardware, when it came to software and the web, she had described me as a prodigy, and when the cybersecurity I was going up against was over one hundred years old in my dimension, this would be a piece of cake.

“In the name of all the CPUs of Gamindustri and my wonderful big sister, this lewd filth and all the sites that allow it to be posted unchecked shall face my righteous divine fury and be expunged!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOC: Hey everyone, I finally got chapter 10 out and breached the 20k wordmark (woooo)! Decided to try and hit you guys with a larger update this time around before I start college again. Really the biggest issue for my writing is finding out in what order the chapters/scenes should be in. Feedback is always welcome and thank you for reading!


End file.
